b e C 


^ H Ur 


M 

SERMON, 


ON THE 


IDOLATRY OF THE HINDOOS, 

DELIVERED NOV. 29, 1810, 

N ' ! , r "T 

./.* 1 1 'll !,l„i f*t ( t 

AT THE 


JINN UAL MEETING , 

v * • . •, i v • 5 i >« 

OF THE 

f • it $TH * + < 

FEMALE FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETY. 

* 

OF FRANKLIN, CONNECTICUT, 


ILLUSTRATED BT AN 


APPENDIX. 


bt SAMUEL NOTT, Jo». 

CATE MISSIONARY AT BOMBAY. 


NORWICH: 

BUBBARD if MARVIN PRINTERS. 




1817 , 


f f~ 





DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT, ss. 

BE IT REMEMBERED ; That on the twenty-fifth day of* 
March, in the forty-first year of the Independence of the United 
States of America, Samuel Nott, Jun. of the said District, hath 
deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he 
claims as Author, in the words following, to wit, “ A Sermon, on the 
Idolatry of the Hindoos, delivered Nov. 29, 1910, at the annual meet- 
ing of the Female Foreign Mission Society, of Franklin, Connecticut, 
illustrated by an Appendix. By Samuel Nott, Jun ■ late Missionary 
at Bombay, in conformity to the act of the Congress of the United 
States, entitled, “ An act for the encouragement of learning, by se- 
“ curing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books to the authors and 
^proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned.” 

HENRY W. EDWARDS, 

Clerk of the District of Con necticut. 

A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by rre, 

HENRY W. EDWARDS, 
Clerk of the District of Connecticut. 




i. 41 


, y.'j i. ,'ITd -I k 
.vr/. t; -.ok v. 'atj i 


.cwrurn'i •-» 






PREFACE. 


IN the following discourse, the Author delivered from 
the desk, his testimony in favor of Missions to India. He 
now presents it to the public, with an Appendix, which will 
serve to confirm his assertions, and enforce his exhortations. 

The labor of preparation has consumed considerable time, 
and delayed unusually long, the publication of an occasional 
sermon $ while the work bears, more than he could have wish- 
ed, the marks of a hasty production. His only apology, is, 
that the state of his health, put it equally out of his power, to 
complete it earlier, or to execute it better. 

In giving the legends of the Hindoos, the Author has been, 
frequently, indebted to the assistance of others. He has heard 
those legends repeatedly, in private conversation and in public 
assemblies, as well as read some of them in their books. But, 
he preferred the mode he has adopted, to trusting entirely to 
his own recollection, which might often be incorrect and de- 
fective. In the accounts, he has given from his own observa- 
tion, he has been faithful ; though he may have been sometimes 
erroneous. He must leave them to be corrected, as w'ell as 
enlarged, by the information which may arrive from time to 
time, from the Brethren in the East, whose residence among 
the Hindoos, will give them the best opportunities, cf under- 
standing their customs and religion. 

The enormities of Juggernaut, and the cruel rites of the 
Hindoos, have been already fully communicated to the public. 
Partly, on this account, and partly, because they have not fal- 
len under the Author’s particular observation, an account of 
them, forms no part of the present wmrk. He has designed to 
exhibit, according to his own impressions from actual observa- 


4 


lion, that religion, which has originated, and tolerates those 
abominations with which the public are acquainted ; — to depict 
the tree, which yields such corrupt fruit. 

He commits his work to the public, with the earnest 
prayer, that while the Head of the Church, has seen fit to lay 
him aside from active duties, he would make this fruit of re- 
tirement, at once, a means of promoting a faithful improve- 
ment of the light of the gospel, and an effectual charity towards 
those who “ sit in darkness, and in the region and shadow of 
death.” 

A view of the idolatry of the Hindoos, is calculated to 
excite in every benevolent mind, something more than a mo- 
mentary compassion, — tofia' a permanent concern in their be- 
half ; which shall pervade every plan, animate in every article 
of business, and influence the whole life to laborious action, 
and to earnest prayer. 

The present, may be the times, in which God designs, 
the darkness of paganism, to begin effectually, to dissipate. 
If they are, they must be likewise the times, in which Chris- 
tians at home, equally , with their Messengers who go abroad, 
make the diffusion of the light of the gospel, a leading busi- 
ness of their lives. 

As he peruses the record of ignorance, superstition, and 
misery, may every reader say ; u The lines have fallen unto 
me in ■pleasant places and / have a goodly heritage .” Hence- 
forth, I will believe and obey the gospel , and be joyful in the 
hope of its sure and eternal rewards. Henceforth , by divine 
grace, it shall be the object of my labors and my prayers, that 
the gospel may be preached, « to every creature . ,” as the. means 
of pardon , — the source of present peace and endless joy. 

Franklin, March 27 , 1817 . 


SERMON 


ROMANS I. 20, 21, 22, 23. 


For the invisible things of him from the creation of the. 
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
made, even his eternal power and Godhead: so that they are 
without excuse. 

Because that, tvhen they knew God, they glorifed him not 
as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their ima- 
ginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 

And changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an 
image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four- 
footed beasts, and creeping things. 

IN the connection of the text, Paul expressed 
his glorying in the gospel of Christ. He gloried in 
it, as a message of peace suited to men of every na- 
tion, according to the import of that ancient promise, 
“ The just shall live by faith.” 

The promise of life by faith, was suited not only 
to the Jew, guilty for sinning against the light of rev- 
elation, but also to the Greek, — to the Heathen, guil- 
ty, for sinning against the light of nature, unawed and 
unaffected by the manifestations of himself, which 
God makes te all men by his works. Both Jew and 


G 


Oreek, each holding in unrighteousness, the truth 
which he knows, have become obnoxious to the 
wrath of God, and stand in equal need of that mes- 
sage of life which comes to all men, without respect 
ef persons. Such is the message in which Paul glo- 
ries when he says, “ I am not ashamed of the gospel 
of Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believeth ; to the Jew first, and 
also to the Greek.” 

In the verses which include tl>e text, he shows, 
that tire heathen, having perverted their knowledge, 
and abused their means of knowledge, arc left with- 
out excuse, and of course without hope. Thus he 
justifies his glorying in the gospel, and the readiness 
which he ever felt to preach it to the Gentiles ; — “ in 
weariness and painfulness — in hunger and thirst — in 
eold and nakedness.” 

My hearers, in attempting to send the gospel to 
the heathen, we are entering upon a work of toil, of 
difficulties, of expence, of trying disappointments, 
though doubtless of ultimate success. If we would 
imitate the patience, self-denial, and steadfastness of 
the Apostle, — if we v/ould do any thing commensu- 
rate with the necessities of the heathen, — if we would 
accomplish our own duty, we must enter upon our 
work, with the principles of the Apostle deeply fixed 
in our minds. In his sentiments and feelings all 
must harmonize. The public, who contribute of 
their substance, the societies, who regulate the funds, 
and the missionaries, w ho preach among the heathen, 
must make it their unalterable motto, JVe are not 
ashamed oj the gospel of Christ, for it is the power 
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ; to 
the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 


7 


Recently returned from among the heathen, witi* 
the recollection of their idolatry still fresh in my 
mind, I feel under special obligations to plead their 
cause. Though disappointed in my own attempt, 
to make known among them the hopes of the Gospel, 
I am not discouraged. Nor would I be, while those 
wretched heathen are “ without Christ — aliens from 
the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the 
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without 
God in the world.” No discouragements will ever 
justify us, for withholding from them that gospel, 
which is “ the power of God unto salvation.” No 
discouragements can ever free us from our obliga- 
tions, as “debtors, both to the Greeks and to the 
Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise.” 

The facts, which influenced the determinations 
and the labors of Paul, in behalf cf the heathen, are 
given in the verses which I have read as a text. The 
same facts are true, of the heathen people among' 
whom I have dwelt, and I come to report them to 
you, as an impressive evidence of their guilt, and as 
a decided call upon Christians to impart to them, the 
knowledge of the gospel. 

The declarations of the Apostle are these ; 

I. That the eternal po wer and God-head of a Su- 
preme Being, are clearly seen by the heathen ; being 
understood by the things that are made ; 

II. That they have abused their knowledge, and, 
actuated by vain imaginations, and a foolish heart, 
have fallen into the grossest idolatry. 

These declarations, are to form the basis of the en- 
suing discourse ; and shall be illustrated, by the 
principles and practices, which prevail among the 
Hindoos, to whom they equally apply, and concern- 


8 


fig whom, the important inference of the Apostle 
will equally follow : — Therefore they are without ex - 
cuse- 

I. The eternal power and God-head of a Supreme 
Being are clearly seen by the heathen ; being under- 
stood by the things that are made. 

The things that are made, bear the impression of 
the Divine hand. Hence, the universe is a volume, 
open to mankind; — a revelation concerning God, 
made to every intelligent creature. 

Consider the earth : — here, God has not left himself 
without a witness , in that he doeth good , and giveth 
rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons , filing the 
hearts of men with food and gladness. “ Speak to 
the eai'th, and it shall teach thee ; and the fishes of 
the sea shall declare unto .thee. Who knoweth not 
in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought 
this ? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, 
and the breath of all mankind.” 

Look upward to the heavens: — these, whose 
beauties and whose wonders are exhibited in every 
climate, and to the eyes of all mankind, these “ de- 
clare the glory of God : and the firmament shewetli 
his handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and 
night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no 
speech nor language where their voice is not heard. 
Their line is gone out through all the earth and their 
words,, to the ends of the world.” 

How much would be understood, from these un- 
doubted testimonies of Divinity, by reason, unassist- 
ed by revelation, and unperverted by sinful disposi- 
tions, it is not necessary to our present purpose to 
determine. This is clear ; — there is, in the works 
of God, a testimony of his being and his attributes, 


9 


but at the same time, an utter silence on the subject 
of pardon. 

Is all this testimony borne before the heathen for 
nought ? No ; their very idolatry shows that they 
have impressions of dependance, and a sense of reli- 
gious obligation. And in respect to the Hindoos at 
least, an intimate acquaintance with their customs 
and views, affords evidence, that their idolatry is a 
perversion of that revelation of a Supreme Deity, 
which they have read from the volume of nature — 
that they not only have the means of discovering, but 
do actually believe in an eternal and omnipotent God . 

The Hindoos* universally believe in one Supreme 
Deity, uncreated and eternal, from whom, as the 
great Jirst cause, all things proceed. In regard to 
his moral attributes, it will presently appear, that 
their ideas are inconsistent and absurd : and yet, it is 
plain that they intend to ascribe to him moral perfec- 
tion ; — an entire freedom from the passions, desires, 
inconsistencies, and changes, of both gods and men. 

On the other hand, the gods, the prototypes of 
their idols, are neither eternal nor omnipotent ; nei- 
ther unchangeable nor holy. As really as men, they 
are dependant in their origin and finite in their exist- 
ence ; proceeding, like all things else, from Him, 
who is eternal and omnipotent. They sustain, only 
for a season, the several parts which mythology as- 
signs them. They are delegates, who perform the 
duties of an absent lord ; and while their power lasts, 
they possess an agency in the affairs of the world, 
and in the destinies of men. They are privileged 
beings, whose claims to worship cannot be trifled 

* See Appendix A. 

2 


10 


with, with impunity. They are sensible objects, 
whose existence is more easily conceived, and whose 
presence is more readily realized, than the existence 
and presence of the Supreme Spirit. 

Of these imaginary beings, which have bodies and 
inhabit place, the images are only copies. By conse- 
cration they become, in some sense, the residence of 
the divinities which they represent. Thus, by a 
double accommodation ; — by created gods in the 
first place, and images of them in the second, a mode 
of worship is instituted, suited to the gross concep- 
tions and sinful dispositions of men. Still, the wor- 
shipper believes in one Supreme God ; but, that idol 
worship is all that is compatible with his present 
condition, and all that is indispensable to ultimate fe- 
licity. Ask the most gross idolater while he is 
bending before his idol, concerning the object of his 
worship, and he will point his finger, and lift his eye 
to heaven, and say, “ My God, and yours are one. 
The w T ay in which vve worship different. Mv idols 
are God’s servants. This is the way of our fathers 
— the way appointed for Hindoos.” 

That God is one, is a truth, believed alike, by the 
learned and the unlearned. For, it is written on a 
leaf which is, and has ewer been, unfolded to the eye 
of all mankind. Hence, the doctrine of a Supreme 
Being, is at once, the instruction of nature, and the 
tradition from the fathers. 

In perfect coincidence with the statement now 
made, it may be observed, that the Hindoos, gener- 
ally, understand that there is a division of worship- 
pers into tw'o classes. * The one, worship the uncre- 
ated God, in the purity of his own existence, without 


* See Appendix B. 


11 


qualities and forms. The other, unable to raise their 
thoughts to that elevation, worship him in a grosser 
manner, by the intervention of finite deities and ma- 
terial forms. The former, by austerity and contem- 
plation, have disengaged their souls from the influ- 
ence of matter, purified them from the defilements of 
sin, and elevated them to the contemplation of the di- 
vine essence. The latter, still entangled by matter, 
deluded by the senses, and polluted by sin, as more 
befitting their present condition, apply themselves on 
principle, and with a ready mind, to the idol worship 
of gods resembling themselves. 

In proportion as a man is supposed to have attain- 
ed to the worship of the uncreated and immaterial 
Deity, he is venerated as having imbibed a portion 
of divinity, and as preparing, for the ultimate felicity 
of being absorbed into that essence, from which all 
creatures have proceeded. Devotees, who profess 
to aspire after the spiritual worship, are seen about 
the different temples, and the reverence w hich they 
receive, is a proof of the belief which the people avow' 
without disguise, that their own worship, is suitable, 
only, to a sinful, worldly, and imperfect state. 

The existence of a Supreme God, and the unfit- 
ness of idolatry to rational beings, is inculcated in 
their books. Not merely, in those accessible to the 
learned only, but in those popular histories of their 
incarnate deities, intended for the common people. 
To hear these chanted and expounded, the illiterate 
often assemble, evening by evening, in the circle of 
their friends and neighbors, or in crowded congre- 
gations.* These contain declarations on the being 
and attributes of God, from which, as authorities 


* See Appendix C- 


12 


which they admit, the Missionary may derive argti- 
ments, like Paul from the Grecian Poet, to confound 
his idolatrous hearers. 

In the opinion of the Hindoos, there is at present, 
a moral declension in the universe, preceded by a 
state of purity, in which, under the guidance of holy 
beings, the true God was worshipped immediately 
by his creatures. When I have asked, in conversa- 
tion, Why do you leave the worship of the Great 
Supreme, and worship the workmanship of your own 
hands ? I have received the reply, “ This is the 
worship of the sinful, the earthen age.* You can 
expect nothing better from the present state. In the 
more perfect age, which preceded the moral declen- 
sion of the world, the true God was worshipped. A 
less perfect worship is suited to the present imperfect 
condition of men.” 

An opinion prevails among them, which, however 
philosophic it may seem, is entertained by all classes 
— That as all things originate in, and proceed out of 
God, so, to him in the final consummation, all things 
will again return. Austerity, contemplation, devotion, 
and the subjugation of the body, restore the vvorship- 
'per, by their own efficacy, to the essence of the Eter- 
nal. The greatest part of mankind, however, by a 
series of transmigrations, come to that reward by a 
circuitous and tedious journey. When every thing 
shall have been prepared for this final consummation, 
there will exist, neither material universe, nor gods, 
nor men ; but all will be swallowed up in the great 
Supreme. 


* Sec Appendix D. 


13 


An expressive annual ceremony,* which has a re- 
ference to this event, illustrates the general doctrine, 
and a description of it, will form an appropriate dose 
to this part of the subject. 

It is annually, the potter’s profitable work, to 
mould gods of clay, for the seemingly inconsistent 
purposes — worship and destruction. These are ex- 
posed for sale. Immense numbers are bought, and 
carried, each, by its purchaser to his home, and every 
house becomes a peculiar temple for idol worship, 
for the space of twelve days, during which, they bow 
down and worship these gods of clay. At the expi- 
ration of that period, and in many cases in a sho'ter 
time, the scene changes, and the gods, who have 
been receiving their worship, are attired, and deco- 
rated, and enshrined ; — not to continue to receive the 
adoration of men, but as preparatory to the last acts of 
worship. Like rendering those funeral honors — the 
last tribute of respect from admiring mortals, which 
accompany the Hero, as he descends from his exal- 
tation to the narrow house, where his bod) is to moul- 
der like another man’s. 

Attired, decorated, and enshrined, on this day of 
grand funeral ceremony for the gods of this world ; — 
from every house, with all the state and splendor of 
which each one is capable, a god is borne. And 
vou behold, through every street, a march of deities 
amid a din of noisy instruments, led on by a multi- 
tude of people, who are advancing to bury them in 
the sacred water, as an evident testimony to the uni- 
tersal claims pf the Great Supreme. They are 


- See Appendix E. 


14 


brought to the margin of the water, where a Brahmin 
assists in performing the last act of worship, and then, 
the gods of clay are plunged into the deep water, 
where they are left to dissolve into their original 
dust. 

This expressive ceremony seems to say, “ They 
arc no gods, which are made with hands. The gods 
we worship are frail and perishable;” and it has 
been represented to me, as pointing to the dissolu- 
tion of the world, when there shall exist, neither ma- 
terial universe, nor gods, nor men. In the opinion 
of the Hindoos, the uncreated Bremh is unchangea- 
ble and eternal. When creation started into being, 
the first creatures were the primeval deities. For 
these there are local habitations, heavens, where they 
reside, ministered unto, and accompanied by, subor- 
dinate deities and ministering servants. By the in- 
carnation of the gods, and the incarnation of the in- 
habitants of heaven by which they were accompani- 
ed, the universe has become filled with deities ; till, 
scarce an animal exists, which has not been inhabited 
by superior beings, and till, as I have been often told, 
there arc three hundred and thirty millions oj gods. 
But this state of things, is not to be eternal. The 
universe, with all which it contains, without the ex- 
ception of either men, or gods, is to undergo a gen- 
eral wreck, a final dissolution, and all existence is to 
be swallowed up, in the Supreme. This event 
seems to be typified in the annual ceremony of the 
Hindoos, of which I have now given a description, 
and with which, I close the proof, that they do actu- 
ally believe , in an eternal and omnipotent God. 


15 


We will now proceed to the second declaration of 
the Apostle, 

II. That they have abused their knowledge, and, 
actuated by vain imaginations, and a foolish heart, 
have fallen into the grossest idolatry. 

Reason and conscience constitute man a religious 
being. A sinful heart hath turned him astray, and 
set him at variance with God, his Maker. But his 
rebellion is not open and direct. Influenced by two 
contending principles, a sense of religion and the love 
of sin, it is in every land, and in every age, his object 
to comply with both : — to satisfy the claims — to se- 
cure the present and future favor of his Maker and 
his Judge, and still live as he lists, in “the lust of 
the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.” 
Hence, there is in every nation, a propensity to false 
religion ; to that religion which, lowering the claims 
of God, is at once easy to man and meritorious with 
Him. 

At blank atheism, or an absolute neglect of Him, 
whose offspring we are, and whose frown we dread ; 
the mind, conscious of guilt, starts back with hor- 
ror ; but is soothed and quieted by the formalities of 
religious worship. 

These observations suggest the cause of the pro- 
pensity of the human mind to idolatry : — the cause 
why men do “ not like to retain God in their knowl- 
edge.” In considering the idolatry of the Hindoos, 
we should keep the cause of it in mind, that we may 
follow the Apostle, in the melancholy inference, that 
“ they are without excuse.” 

As we proceed under the present head of dis- 


16 


course, it will appear, that the Hindoos are without 
excuse, not because they are irreligious ; for they are 
abundantly religious , and it is their abundance of re- 
ligion, of which I am now to give an account, after 
the manner of the Apostle, as a proof that they arc 
without excuse. 

Observe then, first, Though they know God, they 
glory him not as God, neither are thankful. In- 
tending to ascribe to Him perfection, both natural 
and moral, they represent him, as not only eter- 
nal, unchangeable and omnipotent, but as without 
passions, without sensation, without desires, without 
happiness — A description of the divine essence, 
which, if it be intelligible, deprives him of the glory 
which he possesses, as the fountain of love, and infi- 
nitely happy in its eternal exercise. 

In conformity to these ideas of his essence, they 
consider him as having no direct concern in the act 
of creation, or in the preservation and government of 
the world.* The power of the Supreme, is imagin- 
ed to have a distinct existence, and is represented as 
his wife. By that divine power, was the origin of 
creation. First of all is Vishnoo, lying on a many- 
hcaded serpent at the bottom of the sea. From his 
body grows the water-lilly, which terminates on the 
surface of the sea in a flower, and on that flower 
grows Bramha, the Creator of the world. From 
him proceeds creation, which is handed over to 
Vishnoo, the preserver of the world. The Supreme 
Deity from whose power all things proceed, lies, in 
silence and inattention to its concerns, according to 
his essential character ; without qualities, without 
action, without happiness, or, as it is represented bv 


* See Appendix F. 




17 


those who would speak more philosophically, Maaj 
or the power which produced a material universe, 
has enchained the Supreme Spirit. It is no part of 
my object, to show that these ideas are consistent 
with any rational views of a Supreme Being, nor any 
part of my expectation, to render them perfectly in- 
telligible. From them it is evident, that though 
they know God, they glorify him not as God, nei- 
ther are thankful to Him, as the original author of all 
their blessings. 

What ! when unassisted reason has read from the 
volume of nature, that there is an eternal, omnipotent 
and unchangeable God, and that he must be pure 
and holy ; is it rendering to him the glory that is his 
due, to consider him as inactive in creation, as absent 
from the system, and unconcerned for its good? 
This, is to acknowledge his existence, but disrobe 
him of his glory. This is, under the influence 
of sin, to pervert the best knowledge, and the best 
gifts. 

With these views of the Supreme Being, as un- 
connected with the affairs of the universe, it is not 
strange that He is not the object of their worship. 
Alienated from God themselves, they are disposed to 
think that the alienation is on his part ; and as if, 
while they are at a distance from him, he were at a 
distance from them, they feel at full liberty, to sink 
to the level of their grovelling minds. The conse- 
quence is, that no service is paid to the acknowledg- 
ed first cause and last end of all things. They be- 
lieve in one only God ; but offer him no prayers, no- 
praises, no thanksgivings ; or, in language suited to 
their notions, all men are bound in the bondage Qf 
3 


matter, so that they cannot comprehend the Supreme 
Intelligence. I have heard them say; “ How can 
we worship him ? How can we conceive of him who 
is uncreated and eternal ? How can we fix our minds 
upon him, who does not inhabit place ? 5 ’ 

Such is their treatment of the Supreme Spirit. 
Not liking to retain him in their knowledge, they have 
entirely forsaken the eternal God : and, as might be 
expected, when men abuse the original impression 
which his works make upon their minds, they have, 
in the language of the text, become vain in their ima • 
ginations , and their foolish heart is darkened : pro- 
fessing themselves to be wise , they have become fools. 

There are a few, who profess to consider their re- 
ligion as an allegory, and to understand and revere 
the hidden meaning. Glorying in their own wis- 
dom, they say, that the common religion is suited to 
the conceptions and feelings of the ignorant multi- 
tude. 

The people themselves , as has been already hinted, 
think it suitable to the present age, and their otvn 
condition. Under the influence of a corrupt and 
sensual mind, they declare it impossible to worship 
the Supreme Spirit. Instead of Him, they prefer 
created gods — gods who are frail, changeable and 
sinful. 

Heathen ! your foolish heart is darkened. It is 
not beyond your power, to bow down with hum' Ie 
adoration before Him, whose power, whose pres- 
ence, and whose goodness, are discovered in his 
works. A sinful heart hath ui fitted you for his wor- 
ship. Buried in sensuality, your mind aspires not to 
the admiration and worship of the Author and Pre- 
server of your being. Therefore it is, that knowing 


19 


God you worship him not as God. Therefore have 
you changed the glory of the Incorruptible, into the 
detestable similitudes of his corruptible creatures. 

The idols which the Hindoos worship, are not 
considered by them to be real beings. When they 
come from the artist’s hands they are considered to 
be, what they really are ; lifeless images, inanimate 
stocks. Their claims to adoration are not founded, 
simply, on their resemblance to their patterns. 
“ You tell us, said a Hindoo (as I was walking with 
him out of the gate of one of the temples) that the 
idols we worship are nothing ; that they cannot see 
with their eyes , hear with iheir ears , or walk with 
their jeet. True, the image is only stone or metal; 
but it must be consecrated, Sir ; the Brahmin must 
repeat over it the hallowed verse, before it becomes a 
proper object of worship. Then it becomes the 
place of the god whose resemblance it bears, his 
habitation, his chamber of audience, where he ac- 
cepts our worship, and becomes sensibly present to 
us.” 

The forms of the idols are exceedingly various ; 
corresponding to those imaginary beings which they 
represent. The three primeval deities ere in the 
form of men ; and of these, as emblems of their wis- 
dom and power, Bramha has four heads, and Vish- 
noo four hands. Thus are they represented in 
painting and in bronze, the one, sitting on his mater- 
nal lilly, and the other, reposing on the many- headed 
serpent, who participates with him in the worship of 
his adorers. 

In his incarnations, Vishnoo sometimes retained 
the human form. In the first, however, he became 
a fish, to recover the divine books which had been 


20 


stolen by an evil being ; in the second a tortoise, for 
a pedestal in churning the sea of milk ; in the third, a 
boar, to raise the drowning world on his tusk, and in 
the fourth, a Man-Lion, to destroy the enemy of gods 
and men and to prove his own omnipresence. 

There are many inferior deities, or personages con- 
nected with the gods, either in their residence in 
heaven, or their incarnate habitation on the earth, 
whose images are worshipped both as household dei- 
ties and in the temples of the gods. Among these 
may be found, indeed, birds, and beasts , and creeping 
things. Here is Garuda, the porter of heaven ; and 
though descended of human parents, a bird produ- 
ced from an egg. Here is Hanumunt, a monkey — 
a kind of heavenly incarnation, who accompanied the 
divine Rama, while he was on earth ; chastising his 
enemies by his tail, which by divine power, he was 
able miraculously to elongate. Here is G unputtee, 
the god of wisdom, having a human body and an el- 
ephant’s head. The first head having been cut off in 
some heavenly altercation, this was taken, as the first 
at hand, to supply its place. And here, too, 
standing before the temple of this majestic deity, 
who receives more direct worship than any other 
god, as though reason had run mad, is the insignifi- 
cant rat ; — the animal who conveys his carcase from 
place to place.* 

Besides these, which are most of them commonly 
seen as objects of worship, time would fail to men- 
tion the different kinds of beings which are venerat- 
ed, as connected with divinity. 

The habitations of the gods are material, and con- 
nected with them are door keepers, musicians and 


* fsco Appendix Ct 


21 


dancing girls, all of which arc subjects of story and 
receive a degree of veneration. There are also evil 
beings; a kind of gods of destruction, who receive 
either a uniform, or periodical worship. Some of 
these are so peculiar as to beggar all description, be- 
ing unlike any thing that we conceive either in heaven 
or on earth. 

In describing the vanities which the Hindoos wor- 
ship, I have been obliged to omit, as unsuitable to be 
mentioned in this place, and indeed in any other 
place, one of the most common and venerated of the 
idols which fill their temples and receive their hom- 
age. 

That the gods of the Hindoos are like to “ men, 
and birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping 
tilings,” is not their only, or their greatest reproach. 
Their characters are as trivial and base, as their forms 
are low and degraded. They are like men, in their 
passions and feelings, and the places where they re- 
side are filled with folly, disorder and contention. 

Their earliest history discovers their imperfec- 
tions. Bramha, the creator of the world, was so 
puffed up with this honor as to begin to defame his 
superior divinity. On that account he immediately 
lost one of his five heads, and was forever after deni- 
ed the privilege of being worshipped. Of the other 
primeval deities and their wives, stories, implying 
that they are subject to every bad passion and every 
hurtful lust, are abundant. The history of the trans- 
actions of all those beings, who constitute those 
motly communities which inhabit the fabulous resi- 
dences of the gods, is as corrupt and base, as can be 
furnished from the annals of men. Pride and selfish- 
ness, jealousy and anger, party and lust, pervade the 


22 


very heavens where they dwell, and from them follow, 
even in those elevated regions, the natural consequen- 
ces which in our world flow from the flesh, viz. The 
work of the flesh which are these. Adultery , unclean- 
ness, lasciviousness, hatred, variance , emulations , 
wrath, strife , envyings and murders. 

In becoming incarnate, it is believed by the Hin- 
doos, that the gods regarded the happiness of the 
world. Though it is evident from their history, that 
in some sort, they pursued and finally accomplished 
this object, still, their history represents them as full 
of the follies, and sins of men. The venerated 
Krishna, from his earliest childhood, was a cunning 
thief, and as he grew to manhood, evinced that he 
possessed the faults of men united with the power of 
God. How unlike that blessed incarnation — that 
Immanuel , God with us, whom we adore. He be- 
came man and was tempted in all points like as we 
are , yet without sin ; and in his life left an example, 
which, whoev er imitates, becomes a blessing to man- 
kind and acceptable to his maker.* 

I hope by this time you have some idea of the idols 
which the Hindoos worship. They are inanimate 
stocks ; resemblances of beings which erdst only in 
the vain imaginations of sinful men : and like the er- 
ring creatures which pay them worship, are incon- 
sistent and sinful in their conduct and character. 

These are the objects of the adoration of the Hin- 
doos ; and bowing before them “ they change the 
glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made 
like to corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed 
beasts, and creeping things or in the Apostle’s 
words in one of the verses following, “ They have 


* Sec Appendix II. 


23 


changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped 
and served the creature more than the Creator, who 
is blessed forever.” 

The Hindoo daily sees die sun breaking forth in 
his glory and rejoicing “ as a strong man to run a 
race.” By his light he sees the w onders of nature, 
and the provision which Providence continually has 
in readiness for man and beast. And night by night, 
liaving refreshed nature, and enlightened man, he 
sees him descending from his sight persuaded that 
he will return again. He sees it, and feels in his 
mind the impression that there is an eternal, omnipo- 
tent, and incorruptible God. A truth which, though 
lie believes, he willingly changes into a lie. The 
slave of a sensual mind, as though he were a very 
beast, he neglects the Incorruptible, and degrades his 
mind and prostrates his body in the worship of cor- 
ruption. 

Enter now with me into the enclosure of a Hindoo 
temple and observe the worship of the people. With- 
in it, there are various apartments for gods of differ- 
ent shapes and names : not in which the people as- 
semble to pay a united service, but where each as an 
individual, pays his service for himself alone. 

Mark, as you enter the enclosure, the clangor of 
cymbals, the tumult of noisy singers, the din of ring- 
ing bells, and a crowd of busy people passing and re- 
passing. On one side, is a Brahmin chanting ..nd 
explaining to half a dozen hearers the sacred books. 
On another, a company of asceticks besmeared with 
ashes, singing loud songs of praise ; while the people 
are hurrying in the midst of conversation and laugh- 


ter, to and from their evening worship. Single out 
now a particular person and observe his service. lie 
has finished the business of the day, and has come, 
as he tells you, to the presence of his god or god- 
dess. See him as he draws nigh, having in his hand 
an offering of cocoa-nuts, and rice, and flowers. Soon 
as he sees the image, he makes his salutation, lie 
breaks the cocoa-nut upon the head of the animal on 
which his divinity is supposed to ride. He rings the 
bell which hangs over the entrance, that he may be 
sure of the attention of his god. He enters into his 
presence, bows before him, presents his offering, 
mutters a few words of praise and prayer, and then 
taking a circuit around and around him, as the last 
act of service, he returns, having satisfied his own 
conscience and in his own opinion pleased his deity. 

I meet him at the door, and ask, how can you thus 
forsake the Great Supreme whose works you be- 
hold around you ? He replies, “ This is Hindoo’s 
way — These customs our fathers handed down to us. 
My religion is good for me and your religion good 
for you. I am engaged in the business of the world 
and in making provision for the body. How can I 
worship the great God. I must have a friend to in- 
troduce me to the magistrate, much more to God.” 
Ah, poor deluded Hindoo ! And can the worship 
of this misshapen image, give you a better access, than 
simply to bow your heart with humble adoration 
and praise to God your Maker ? 

Such are the gods of the Hindoo, and such the 
manner of his worship. To him to be religious is a 
business of ceremony only ; not to yield the service 


25 


of his heart, not to be pure, and benevolent, and 
meek. Such a service would condemn the gods he 
worships. A system of useless ceremonies, which 
mingles with all the concerns of life, has usurped its 
place. By attention to this, the Hindoo secures the 
favor of the gods who influence his destinies, and 
proceeds on, as he thinks, step by step, towards that 
Supreme Being, whom he refuses to worship. The 
practices of his religion are sometimes grossly sinful, 
but not on that account less meritorious. And if 
they are not all so, they still leave the worshipper at 
liberty to be actuated by sinfui feelings, and to pur- 
sue vicious conduct. Even those who are profes- 
sedly devoted to sanctity , seek it not by right feel- 
ings and virtuous conduct, but by a separation from 
the concerns of the world, by useless and disgusting 
austerities, by voluntary corporeal sufferings, and by 
performing tedious tasks.* These avail greatly with 
the gods, and according to the legends of the Hin- 
doos, often to the basest purposes. Stories are 
abundant of devout persons having attained such a 
degree of holiness and influence with the gods, as to 
have obtained an unlimited privilege of gratifying the 
most wicked dispositions.! 

We have now surveyed the idols of the Hindoos, 
and the worship that is paid them. To finish the 
picture of their superstitions, let me direct your at- 
tention to the reverence they pay to the objects of 
nature, and to living creatures on the earth. 

The sun is considered as a deity ; and the moon, 

* See Appendix I. j See Appendix K. 

4 


26 


who, in her monthly returns to remove the darkness 
of the night, calls cut the population of the country, 
to watch her first appearance and make their salu- 
tations. Trees, and shrubs, and flowers, and ani- 
mals of various kinds are sacred to different deities, 
and become themselves objects of adoration. Espe- 
cially every cow is sacred ; and to kill one, is a crime 
next in order to the murder of a Brahmin. It is an 
act of high merit, to turn out a bullock as the com- 
mon property, to rove the streets and fatten on the 
daily offerings of the people. Bullocks and cows 
are objects of constant reverence. I have frequently- 
seen people, as they pass them in the street, paying 
them their salutations. Even snakes are not neg- 
lected* On an annual day they receive the offerings 
of the people, in lien of a fabled serpent to whom 
lhat day is appropriated for worship.* 

Nor are men excluded from a privilege to which 
mere animals are admitted. The Brahmins are 
gods, and in a more special sense a religious disciple 
denominates his instructor his god. Religious de- 
votees, to the people at large, are very common ob- 
jects of religious reverence. They throng every 
temple, and are even besought bv the people, as 
though they could influence the destinies and relieve 
the wants of men. See that man ! his nakedness 
uncovered, or scarcely covered ; his swarthy body 
whitened with ashes overspread ; his nails grown to 
the length of claws ; his black hair, become pale and fil- 
thy by long neglect, clotted and entwined in frequent 
evolutions round his head. There he stands, raking 


* S«e Appeudix L. 


27 


his little fire ; sheltered from the changes of the. 
weather and the damps of night, by a canopy of cloth. 

See there another ; already in consequence of his 
vow, for seven years he has held his left arm erect, 
till the joint is callous, the arm withered, and the 
nails growing on his clinched hand cover his wrist. 
These are holy men, before whom the Hindoo bows 
with reverence and homage ; and before whom he 
often presents his request in the time of his extremi- 
ty, and having received the intimation of favor, goes 
away contented and happy.* 

Let this complete the painful illustration, that the 
Hindoo has become vain in his imagination, and that 
his foolish heart is darkened. 

Were you told that the cunning adversary to the 
salvation of men, had made it his special business to 
contrive a system at variance with the rights of Deity 
and the dictates of common sense ; suited equally to 
debase the human mind and to please it when it is 
debased ; and finally, suited to the cultivation of sin- 
ful passions, and to encourage the practise of sin, 
would you not at once exclaim, Behold among the 
Hindoos the complete accomplishment of his vvicked 
purpose ! This is the system which the Hindoo loves. 
On this system he is willing to be religious ; and be- 
ing so, he is without excuse. Let us sum up, in 
application to the present case, the reasoning of the 
Apostle. In his works God has revealed his char- 
acter to men. In that revelation to reasonable be- 
ings, he presents his claims to service and affection. 
The Hindoo has not altogether excluded its light, 


* See Appendix M. 


28 


but has changed the truth of God into a lie — the 
discovered glory of the incorruptible God into an im- 
age made like to his corruptible creatures. Thus 
he holds the truth in unrighteousness, is without ex- 
cuse and deservedly the subject of the wrath of God. 

Such were the sentiments of the great Apostle to 
the Gentiles ; which, in connection with his adoring 
and believing views of the infinite merits of his Sav- 
iour, caused him to say, “lam not ashamed of the 
gospel of Christ.” Over the heathen world, lying 
in all its wretchedness, he cast his compassionate eye 
and determined to give them, as far as in him lay, 
the blessings of that gospel in which he gloried as 
the power of God unto salvation. With a benevo- 
lence in his bosom which burned, like the bush of 
Moses, without consuming ; with courage, not to be 
daunted by the prospect of danger, or overcome by 
the pressure of suffering ; and accompanied by the 
power of the Holy Spirit, he pursued his work, tri- 
umphing in the ancient promise, The just shall live 
by faith. No matter what his country, or his ances- 
tors, or his former religion. The just shall live by 
faith , was the encouraging promise worthy to be 
carried to every soul of man, and he preached it 
faithfully and successfully, till the “Gentiles became 
obedient in word and deed, through mighty signs 
and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 

My hearers, I have not spoken on the superstitions 
of the Hindoos, to gratify that idle curiosity which 
gapes for novelty, while personal duties are un- 
thought of ; but with a design of leading you to a 
practical improvement of what you have been told : 
— of pressing you as believers in the efficacy of the 


29 


gospel for the salvation of men of every nation, to 
adopt the practical conclusion of the Apostle Paul, 
“ I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbari- 
ans, both to the wise and to the unwise. ” Is it posa- 
ble that it can have suggested itself to a single Chris- 
tian hearer, that if the heathen are already in the pos- 
session of so much light as has been represented, 
they stand in no pressing need of the gospel of 
Christ ? and therefore, that the obligations of Chris- 
tians to send it to them, are neither indispensable r,or 
important? — God forbid that I should depress that 
hallowed zeal which burns in the hearts of many, or, 
by unguarded expressions, check that pious libcrali- 
ty which is ready to make an offering, only, to the 
needy. I would bear an unequivocal testimony. 
The heathen do stand in pressing need of the gospel of 
Christ , and the obligations of Christians to send it to 
them, are indispensable, and infinitely important. 

The heathen stand in pressing need of the gospel 
of Christ : — 

Because it reveals the character of God more fully 
and clearly than the light of nature. 

Because they have abused that light, and fallen 
into the grossest idolatry. 

Because the gospel alone declares to men the 
means of pardon which their offended sovereign has 
provided. 

And lastly, because the gospel is the dispensation 
of the Spirit — the power of God unto salvation. 

Had the heathen improved, as they ought, the 
light they enjoy ; — did they discover fully, and clear- 
ly, whatever of the divine perfections is displayed in 
the works of God ; would you withhold from them 


30 


the happiness of seeing the more clear and full dis- 
plays of wisdom, power, and goodness, which you 
lave seen yourself, with indescribable satisfaction, 
in his word? The heavens and the earth, with all 
that they exhibit to the admiring eye of man, and the 
manifest works of his providence unfold his charac- 
ter, and speak his praise. But, the history of his 
dealings with mankind, in filling them with good and 
yet punishing idolatry and wickedness ; his utter 
destruction of the nations that called not upon his 
name ; his acts of judgment, long-suffering, and 
faithfulness, towards the children of Israel ; his pure 
and perfect laws, branching out in orderly and beau- 
tiful ramifications from the great law of love; the 
penalty annexed to their violation ; and most of all, 
the united display of undeviating justice and abun- 
dant grace, in sending his beloved Son to die for the 
rebellious ; — these shed new light upon the discove-. 
ries of nature, reveal what was unknown before, and 
give an indescribable exaltation and glory to Him, 
whom nature of herself declares to be supremely glo- 
rious. These present to mankind new claims of love 
and homage, and a new source of happiness exceed- 
ed, only, by the revelations concerning God, which 
shall be made in eternity, to spirits purified from sin ; 
i when that which is perfect is come , and that which is 
in part shall be done away. 

But the heathen have not improved the light they 
enjoy, but have fallen into the grossest idolatry. And 
will the Christian, whose claim to that name, con- 
sists, not in the improvement of the bright light of 
revelation, but in penitence for misimproved knowl- 
edge and abused mercy, will he withhold from the 


51 

lieathcn the gospel, because they have abused the 
light of nature? 

But, it is not merely the correction of mistakert 
views, and the most delightful exhibitions of the di- 
vine perfections and conduct, that the gospel offers 
to the heathen. It is the voice of mercy to the sin- 
ner ; — shedding upon the darkness of death the light 
of hope, by which he looks w ithout dismay to the 
tribunal of Him who clear eth not the guilty. It re- 
veals the son of God clothed in human flesh, — dying 
that man may live, — rising from the dead, and as- 
cending on high to plead in man's behalf before the 
throne of justice, with the infinite merits of Jehovah, 
nnd with all the k indness of oca elder brother. It does 
more. Wherever it is preached, it is the power of 
God unto salvation , to every one that believeth. The 
energy of the Holy Spirit accompanies it, raising the 
soul from death, and binding it to Him who triumph- 
ed over death , and lives forever. 

For this message of peace — for this power unto 
salvation, the condition of the heathen loudly calls. 

The scriptures condemn idolatry as a peculiarly 
aggravated crime, and spare not threatenings to 
those who have incurred its guilt. I do not say 
that it, inevitably, condemns all who live and die 
amid the darkness of pagan lands. I dare not deny 
the possibility , nor am I unwilling to indulge the 
hope, that from the midst of that darkness, there may 
be some, redeemed by a Saviour they have never 
known, and sanctified by a sovereign Spirit, who, 
having served the true God as he is seen in his 
works, will be happy in his eternal favor. 


32 


But, that idolators, those who knowing God glorify 
him not as God, cannot be saved in their idolatry, and 
that generally speaking the members of idolatrous 
nations are idolators , seems plain beyond a doubt. 
To believe otherwise, would be to be charitable be- 
yond what is written. The bible does not teach us, 
that the light of nature, is the power oj God unto sal- 
vation. It teaches us, rather, that God reserved the 
agency of his Spirit, in recovering men to his moral 
image, and in fitting them to dwell in his presence, 
to grace the offers of salvation by the Son of his 
love. 

Do not the heathen stand in pressing need of the 
gospel of Christ ? I have endeavored to present before 
you the religion of the Hindoos ; a religion, which, 
base as it is, is practised by ten times the number of 
people in the United States. Its ceremonies, and the 
worship of its idol gods, engross their minds, even 
from lisping infancy to hoary age. The old man, al- 
ready broken by the weight of years, takes up his ac- 
customed song, which he remembers while his mind 
decays ; and clapping gently his withered hands, he 
tunes his trembling voice to the tinkling of the chains 
around his ancles, and chants to his little grandson 
his first lesson of idolatry ; who learns to chime with 
his voice in the praises of his god. One generation 
passeth, and another generation corneth, to receive the 
legacy of idolatry, — to grope in its darkness, — to be 
beguiled by its formalities, and to sink under its aw- 
ful guilt. 

Having, then, in our hands a gospel fitted to en- 
lighten them, to restore them, to the image of their 


Maker, to lead them to his worship, to comfort them 
in life and death, and make them infinitely and eter- 
nally happy ; are we not their debtors ? 

Yes, we are debtors. The gift of the gospel to 
us, as well as to the Apostle, was for a twofold pur- 
pose : — that we might secure its blessings for our- 
selves , and that we might hand it on to our neighbor. 
So long as we retain it, we are like that felonious 
son, who retains the estate given by the father to his 
family, and leaves his brothers and sisters to poverty 
and rags. , 

We are debtors. — Christian, it is not a matter 
submitted to thy choice , whether thou wilt contri- 
bute of thy substance that the gospel may be sent to 
the he .then ; and if thou givest largely, thou needest 
not applaud thy generosity. 

It is not a matter submitted to the choice of the 
ministers of Jesus, whether they will be to the hea- 
then, messengers of glad tidings. Though labori- 
ous, active, and enterprising beyond comparison, the 
Apostle anplauded not himself for a gratuitous ser- 
vice, but says, “ I am debtor both to the Greeks and 
to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the un- 
wise.” 

My hearers, the idolatry of the heathen, the rea- 
sonings, resolutions and example of the Apostle are 
now before you. And can any thing more be ne- 
cessary, to awaken interest, to excite compassion, or 
to fix your determinations ? Can there be named a 
work more capable of sweetening the labors or alle- 
viating the sufferings, which are the inevitable por- 
tion of human life, than that of making the gospel 
known to the debased and perishing heathen ? While 
5 


34 


the farmer is cultivating the soil, or the mechanic 
fashioning his work, he may cherish the animating 
thought, that he is not only providing, as he ought, 
for himself and those whom God hath given him in 
charge ; but, in his prayers and his contributions, is 
a co-worker in accomplishing an object, as momen- 
tous as the earth can possibly witness, — the turning 
of idolatrous nations to the love and favor of God 
their Maker. 

To be engaged in such an enterprise, each in his 
proper sphere — to be conscious of laboring, accor- 
ding to our ability, for such results — to cherish the 
confident belief that our labor shall not be in vain, 
but, combining with the labors of others, effectual, in 
blessing nations like the stars of heaven for multitude : 
for the man in his business, for the female in her fam- 
ily, and even for the child that serveth God, will an- 
nihilate the lesser troubles of human life, and shed 
the oil of gladness o’er the rest. 

Every Christian, who embarks in the glorious en- 
terprize of converting the heathen, may at once ful- 
fil the ordinary duties of human life, and be a partak- 
er in the happiness of the missionary, who having left 
his country, and embarked on an enterprise of diffi- 
culty and hazard, rejoices that he is cultivating a field 
grown to waste, and preparing a harvest from barren 
ground. Nay, he may rejoice like the Apostle when 
he said, “I have strived to preach the gospel npV 
where Christ was named, lest I should build on an- 
other man’s foundation. But as it is written, To 
whom he was not spoken of they shall sec : and they 
that have not heard shall understand.” 

At what time, God will fulfil this promise to a par- 
ticular people, and more especially, when, the latter 


35 


day glory shall break in all its splendor on the world, 
it is neither possible, nor necessary, for us precisely 
to determine. But it is proper to close our medita- 
tions on the darkness of the he. then, by those joyful 
anticipations which the signs of the times, and a gen- 
eral view of the promises of God, may justly awaken. 
It is right, and so much the more, as we see that day 
approaching, to take up with exultation and joy the 
song of David ; 4 4 Among the gods there is none like un- 
to thee, 0 Lord ; neither are there any works like unto 
thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall 
come and worship before thee , 0 Lord ; and shall 
glorify thy named'' 

The signs of the times may well encourage the 
most animating hopes. Already it begins to be 
adopted as a principle of Christian practise, that it is 
the duty of Christians in their several spheres to do 
their utmost for the spread of the gospel. Already 
is the wonder exhibited to an admiring world, of nu- 
merous associations of men, of different countries, 
languages and habits, connected by no system of 
combined action, still liable to error and learning 
from experience ; stedfastly tending towards one 
great object, as really accomplishing all the parts of 
one great plan, as though they were actuated by the 
mind of one man. Why ? Doubtless because they 
are influenced by one spirit to pursue the plan, and 
fulfil the momentous design of one infinite mind. 
Already has this moral machine been so long in mo- 
tion as to show that its parts are properly combined, 
and the stream which moves it, not a temporary cur- 
rent, but sufficient and exhaustless ; proceeding from 


36 


God, and destined to continue its impulse, till the 
earth has become full of the glory of the Lord. 

Disgusted with the idolatry of the heathen, my 
mind fixes with indescribable satisfaction, on the 
prospect of a brighter day. 

Let that gradual progression in the great work 
continue, which has been witnessed even by the 
young; — let the principles of Christian action con- 
tinue to be developed and adopted ; — let the Christian 
world obey the impulse they have received : — obsta- 
cles may still obstruct, discouragements still cali for 
submission, patience and faith : yet, under the guid- 
ance and blessing of that providence, whose work for 
thirty years past excites our admiration ; under the 
influence of that Spirit which in the midst of opposi- 
tion has wrought, and none could hinder; is it too 
much to hope for a visible and near approach of the 
latter day glory before the youth are old ? 

If there be any prospect of happiness which makes 
me wish to live to old age, it is to bear a part in the 
work of God, and to observe the progress of those 
events by which He may be ushering in that blessed 
day : and having seen, at least, its morning bright- 
ening for a perfect day, to sink into the grave, saying 
like aged Simeon, “Lord, now lettest thou thy ser- 
vant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy sal- 
vation 


APPENDIX 


(A.) 


The Hindoos believe in an eternal and omnipotent God. 


The application of the Apostle's words, equally, to the un- 
learned and the learned, seemed to .accord with their most ob- 
vious meaning, and to correspond to those addresses to the 
Heathen, recorded in the 14th and 17th chapters of the Acts, 
in which he enforced the duties which men owe to the Supreme 
God, not as though he were making a new discovery, but ap- 
plying to the conscience neglected and abused knowledge. It 
certainly corresponds with the case of the Hindoos as it ap- 
peared to the Author in the course of a familiar acquaintance, 
lie is convinced it maybe said, in the forcible language of the 
Apostle, that by the Hindoos, the invisible things of God, even 
his eternal power and God -head, are clearly seen. 

There is, undoubtedly, a difference between the statements 
of philosophy, and the faith of the vulgar. The statements of 
philosophy are more clear and dignified and contain sublime 
descriptions of the Supreme Being ; though they evidently 
conform to those popular notions by which philosophy in all 
its movements has been entrammelled. The faith of the vul- 
gar rests upon their imaginary gods. To them alone , they 
look for protection and benefits ; and thus it is, that at first 
view, their idolatry seems to conceal every testimony of a Su- 
preme Being. 

The truth is, that philosophy is better than philosophers, 
who, I believe, are not unfrequently the grossest idolaters. 


notwithstanding ail the elevated views, which their reading has 
afforded. The illiterate, on their part, siuk in tlieir practice 
far below their knowledge. Concerning both it may be said, 
knowing God, they worship him not as God. Not those who 
have learned philosophy from books, but those who are willing 
to practise the requisite austerities are the only professed wor- 
shippers of the Supreme God. As to the rest, whether their 
understandings are more or less cultivated and enlarged, they 
know him, but neglect him. 

The similarity between the philosophic opinions respecting 
God, and the testimony of the common peopie, will be seen by 
the following extracts and statements, which will at the same 
time confirm the assertion of the Author. 

“ In the Vedanti Philosophy (says Lord Tcignmouth, in his 
life of Sir William Jones) which is evidently Platonic, the Al- 
mighty, known by the mystical and incommunicable appella- 
tion of O'M is the only being; and all others, including 
Bramha, Vishnu, and Mahcsa, arc only the creatures of idea 
or perception ; which will perish in the general annihilation, 
whilst O'M alone survives through all eternity.'’ 

This assertion is confirmed and the Philosophic doctrine 
concerning the Supreme, and the gods, is more fully explained 
in the following extracts from the l'oog Vashiesti , a very an- 
cient composition in Sanscrit cited by his Lordship. 

“The instability of the world and of every tiling contained in it is 
certain ; hence it will one day happen, that the evil deities, who arc 
now so powerful, shall fall into annihilation, and the Debtas distin- 
guished by the title of » Qmrit , or immortal, shall perish. The 
Bermhand,* on which all nature depends for existence, shall be 
broken, and not a trace remain of Bramha, Vishnu, or Siva. Time, 
having annihilated all, shaH himself perish. 

Bramha, Vishnu, and Mahdeva, notwithstanding their trailed dig- 
it ily, fall into the jaw’s of inexistence.” 

“ You are not to consider Vishnu, Bramha, or Mahdeva, and oth- 
er incorporate beings, as the deity, although they have each the de- 
nomination of deva or divine : these are all created ; whilst the Su- 
preme Being is without beginning or end, unformed and uncreat- 
ed... ..worship and adore him.” 


* The egg of the world. 


39 


“ The worship which is paid to the inferior deities and the repre- 
sentations of them, proceeds from this : mankind in general are 
more affected by appearances than realities ; the former they com- 
prehend, but the latter are difficult to be understood. Hence learn- 
ed tutors first place figures before them, that their minds may be 
composed, and conducted by degrees to the essential Unity who 
survives the annihilation, when the Debtas and all created existen- 
ces arc dissolved and absorbed into his essence.” 

The ideas contained in these extracts, seem to be the basis 
of those notions concerning the Supreme Being, and the gods, 
which are stated in the sermon, and which seem to he equally 
entertained, by the most learned Brahmins, and by the most 
illiterate of the other classes. 

The philosophic view of the origin of creation, and of its 
dependance upon the Supreme Being, is given in the follow- 
ing beautiful hymn of Sir William Jones. It is addressed to 
Narayena, or Yishnoo lying at the bottom of the waters ; and 
except that in some parts, it seems too pure and elevated for 
the composition of one destitute of revelation, it may be con- 
sidered as the song of the most enlightened Hindoo Philoso- 
pher. The reader may observe in it the foundation of the pop- 
ular fables, to which he is referred in the sermon, and more 
particularly in a part of this Appendix, and on which, the 
minds of the people ordinarily rest. 


HYMY TO .YAJtAYEJYA. 

“ Spirit of spirits, who, through every part 
Of space expanded and of endless time. 

Beyond the stretch of lab’ring thought sublime, 
Badst uproar into beauteous order start, 

Before Heaven was, thou art : 

Ere spheres beneath us roll'd or spheres above, 
Ere earth in firmamental ether hung, 

Thou sat’st alone ; till, through thy mystic love, 
Things unexisting to existence sprung, 

And grateful descant sung. 

What first impell’d tlice^o exert thy might ? 
Goodness unlimited. What glorious light 
Thy power directed ? Wisdom without bound. 
What prov’d it first ? Oh ! guide my fancy right ; 


40 


Oil ! rise from cumbrous ground 
My soul in rapture drown’d, 

That fearless it may soar on wings of fire ; 

For Thou, who only know’st, Thou only can’st inspire. 

Wrapt in eternal solitary shade, 

Th’ impenetrable gloom of light intense, 
Impervious, inaccessible, immense, 

Ere spirits were infus’d or forms display’d, 

Brehm his own mind survey’d, 

As mortal eyes (thus finite we compare 
With infinite) in smoothest mirrors gaze : 

Swift, at his look, a shape supremely fair 
Leap’d into being with a boundless blaze, 

That fifty suns might daze. 

Primeval Mata was the Goddess nam’d, 

Who to her sire, with love divine inflam’d, 

A casket gave with rich ideas fill’d 
From which this gorgeous Universe he fram’d ; 
For, when th’ Almighty will’d 
Unnumber’d worlds to build, 

From Unity diversified he sprang, 

While gay Creation laugh’d and procreant Nature rang 

First an all-potent all-pervading sound 
Bade flow the waters — and the waters flow’d, 
Exulting in their measureless abode, 

Diffusive, multitudinous, profound, 

Above, beneath, around : 

Then o’er the vast expanse primordial wind 
Breath’d gently till a lucid bubble rose, 

Which grew in perfect shape an Egg refin’d : 
Created substance no such lustre shows, 

Earth no such beauty knows. 

Above the warring waves it danc’d elate, 

Till from its bursting shell with lovely state 
A form cerulean flutter’d o’er the deep 
Brightest of beings, greatest of the great ; 

Who not as mortals steep 
Their eyes in dewy sleep, 

But heavenly-pensive on the Lotos* lay, 

That blossomed at his touch and shed a golden ray. 

Hail, primal blossom ! hail empyreal gem ! 
Kemel,* or Pedma,* or whate’er high name 

* Different names for the Water-lily. 


41 


Uclight thee, say, what lour form’d Godhead calpc, 

With graceful stole and beamy diadem, 

Forth from thy verdant stem ? 

Full gifted iiKEMiir ! Wrapt in solemn thought 
He stood, and round his eyes fire-darting threw.' 

But, whilst his viewless origin he sought, 

One plain he saw of living waters blue, 

Their spring nor saw nor knew. 

Then, in his parent stalk again retir’d, 

With restless pain for ages he inquir’d 

tV hat were his powers, hy whom, and why conferr’d : 

With doubts perplex’d, with keen impatience fir’d, 

He rose and rising heard 

Th’ unknown all-know ing Word, 

Brejiiia ! no more in vain research persist : 
y veil thou canst not move — Go ; bid all worlds exist. 

Hail, self-existea^ in celestial speech 
Naraykn, from thy watry cradle nam’d: 

Or Vexamaey may I sing unblam’d, 

With flow’ry braids, that to thy sandals reach, 

Whose beauties who can teach ? 

Or high Peitameer clad in yellow robes 
Than sunbeams brighter in meridian glow, 

That weave their heaven-spun light o’er circling globes ? 
Unwearied, lotos-eyed, with dreadful bow, 

Dire Evil’s constant foe ! 

Great Pedmaxabha,* o’er thy cherish’d world 
The pointed Checra, f by thy fingers whirl’d, 

Fierce Kytabh shall destroy and MedhuJ grin, 

To black despair and deep destruction hurl’d. 

Such views my senses dim, 

My eyes in darkness swim : 

What eye can bear thy blaze, what utt’rance tell 
Thy deeds with silver trump or many- wreathed shell ? 

Omniscient spirit, whose all-ruling pow’r 
Bids from each sense bright emanations beam ; 

Glow s in the rain-bow, sparkles in the stream, 

* Venamaly, uilh necklaces of flowers, Peitamber, ‘ clad in yelloic 
robes,' and Pedmanabha, the icattr-'ily springing from his navel, are 
all names of Vishnoo. , 

f A circular weapon peculiar to Vishnoo. 
t Evil spirits feigned to have sprung from the ears of Vishnoo. 


42 


jfmiies in the hud, and glistens in the flow i 
That crowns each vernal bow’r, 

Sighs in the gale, and warbles in the throat 
Of ev’ry bird that hails the bloomy Spring, 

Or tells his love in many a liquid note, 

Whilst envious artists touch the rival string, 

Till rocks and forests ring ; 

Breathes in rich fragrance from the sandal grove, 

Or where the precious muskdeer playful rove : 

In dulcet juice from clust’ring fruit distils, 

And burns salubrious in the tasteful clove : 

Soft banks and verd’rous hills 
Thy present influence fills ; 

In air, in floods, in caverns, woods, and plains, 

Thy will inspirits all, thy sovereign Mata reigns. 

Blue crystal vault, and elemental fires, 

That in til’ ethereal fluid blaze and breathe ; 

Thou, tossing main, whose snaky branches wreathe 
This pensil orb with intertwisting gyres ; 

Mountains, whose radiant spires 
Presumptuous rear their summits to the skies, 

And blend their emerald hue with sapphire light ; 

Smooth meads and lawns, that glow with varying dye* 

Of dew-bespangled leaves and blossoms bright, 

Hence ! vanish from my sight : 

Delusive pictures ! unsubstantial shows 
My soul absorbed One only Being knows, 

Of all perceptions One abundant source, 

Whence ev’ry object ev’ry moment flows 
Suns hence derive their force, 

Hence planets learn their course ; 

But suns and fading worlds I view no more : 

OOD only I perceive ; GOD only I adore,” 

In the preceding extracts, it will he seen that the philosophic 
testimony to the existence c' the Great Supreme, is sufficiently 
explicit. That the testimony of the people, which is given in 
the sermon, may be confirmed, I subjoin a specimen of my 
own conversations with people of different classes. 

The first conversation which l shall notice, was with some 
palankeen bearers, a class of people who are in general unable 
to read. I was conversing with them on the unity of God. 
One of them observed, u God is one ; but there are a thousand 


43 


incarnations, and thus it is, that while there is only one God, 
there are three hundred and thirty millions of gods.” I un- 
derstood him to refer to a common notion, that in each incar- 
nation, there was a general incarnation of the subordinate de- 
ities. For instance in the case of Krishna, all the men, women, 
and children of his village, aud all the cattle, were incarnations 
of heavenly beings. 

A man who was making earthen images for sale, previous 
to the annual drowning of the gods, was sitting at his work, 
when I walked up and entered into conversation with him. 
He told me he was a mason, and engaged in his present em- 
ployment, only two months in a year, during which he earned 
two or three hundred rupees.* He was surrounded by im- 
ages of his own workmanship, from six inolies, to more than a 
foot in height, and from 6ix, to twenty rupees in price. I 
spoke to him fully, on the folly and wickedness of image wor- 
ship. He received my instruction with the common reply j 

This is our appointed way.” There was an image of Gun- 
puttee before us. — I asked him if God inhabited Gunputtee. 
He pointed to the earth and replied, “ Godt is there — God is 
every where, but has appointed this way for our people.” I 
asked what advantage I might expect, if I should become a 
worshipper of Gunputtee ? and what I had to fear while dis- 
suading others from his worship ? He replied, with a smile, 
referring to the doctrine of the transmigration of souls ; “You 
probably were a worshipper of Gunputtee in your former life, 
and on that account, are so well provided for in your present 
existence.” 

I had frequent opportunities of conversing with a company 
of tailors, who sat daily at their work in my own neighbor- 
hood, and of exhorting them to leave the worship of their idol 
gods, to repent of their forsaking the Great Supreme, and to 
wmrship and serve Him “ in spirit and in truth.” I still seem 
to hear their reply — “ This is our way $ why should we alter 

* A rupee is nearly half a dollar. 

f It deserv es to be remarked that when the Hindoos speak in this 
way of God , they do not use the same word which they apply to 
their idols. The idol is deva , — God emphatically speaking is Perum 
Eeshwor, the Great or Supreme God. 


u 


the customs of our Fathers r Our religion is one road to 
Heaven, and yours another. Our gods are the servants, and 
the door-keepers, as it were, of the Great Supreme : and we 
worship them as we apply to the friends and officers about the 
Magistrate, when we have business to transact with him.” — 
The Magistrate is neither every where, nor knows every thing, 
and you must make your business known to him in the best 
way you can, but God needs no assistance in discovering 
your wants, and is always at hand to hear your petitions «r 
your praises. “ True, but this is suitable in Kale-yug — We 
live in an evil age, and are under the dominion of the senses. 
How can we worship a pure spirit.” 

Very similar was the language of an ascetick, before whom 
I charged the people, who were standing by', with leaving the 
Great Supreme to follow idols. “ True, said he, but it is ow- 
ing to the age — Kale-yng. The idols arc not God, but God's 
attendants or door-keepers.” 

' As I was once visiting the temples, some person invited me 
to go with him to see a silent gossawee, or ascetick, who had 
just arrived. I found him sitting upon a mat in a iittle pen, 
like what I had been used to see for calves and sheep. He 
had two attendants, a man and a boy. His neck was hung 
heavy with rosaries, and his body was nearly naked. Con- 
versation with him was out of the question, for his vow was 
silence, partly, probably, as an austerity, and partly, that he 
might be without interruption, wrapt in divine contemplation. 
If I remember right, I was told that he had not spoken for 
twelve years. Upon a board sprinkled with sand, he wrote a 
sentence in the Mahratta language to the following purport ; 
“ God is one ; but the idolatrous religions, arc for the unen- 
lightened multitude.”* 

While God is one, it is believed that there are various di- 
vine manifestations ; and I have often heard the following 

* Not because the unenlightened multitude are more ignorant of 
the existence of a Supreme God, than those who profess to aim at 
liis worship. For, be4d.es other evidences that they are not igno- 
rant iu this respect, is the reverence they pay to those very devo- 
tees, whoso separation from the world fits them for Ilis worship, 
whose existence all acknowledge, but for whose worship all arc pot 
qualified. 


45 


simile used, to illustrate that idea. (l When the sun shines 
into a thousand vessels of water, there is the appearance of a 
sun in each. The sun is one ; its manifestations may be in- 
numerable. ” 

The following extract from the speech of Maj. Gen. Prole, 
in the service of the Hon. E. India Company, delivered at the 
Guild-Hall, Bristol, Eng. on Thursday, March 29th, 1816, 
will serve to confirm the assertion of the Author. 

“ After a military service of forty years, including .an actual resi- 
dence of thirty-six years in India, 1 can truly say that tile people of 
the East, are in a deplorable, state of darkness with respect to reli- 
gion. They do indeed profess to believe in a Supreme God ; but 
their popular deities resemble those of Greece and Rome, as Cow- 
per says, ‘ Gods such as guilt makes welcome.’ 1 have seen their 
temples ornam; n; d (if I may so speak) with all the orders of infer- 
nal architecture, displaying all the sins of the cities of the plain, in 
human figures, and exhibiting evil spirits under the significant em- 
blems of serpents, toads, a’.igators, and other destructive or abomina- 
ble reptiles ! Such are the gods of these deluded people, and they 
are precisely such as St. Paul describes them in the first chapter to 
the Romans, viz. “ Vile affections, four-footed beasts and creeping 
things.” 

Such is the evidence, that the Hindoos believe in an Eternal 
and Omnipotent God, while, it is acknowledged, that they 
practise the grossest idolatry. These two facts, seem to be 
inconsistent with each other, and they would be so, if man 
were a consistent being. But it is a lamentable truth that he 
is not so. Hence the possibility of acknowledging the exist- 
ence of one Great Supreme, and at the same time “ changing 
his glory into an image made like to corruptible man, and 
birds, and four-footed beasts and creeping tilings.” The cor- 
ruption cf the h^art, prepares the mind for delusion, sin, and 
folly, and the light of nature, bedimmed, but not extinguished, 
shines upon it to discover its malignity. 

Over greater light, — the light of revelation, and the visible 
footsteps of Deity, the same corruption prevailed among the 
Jews, when “ they changed their glory into the similitude of 
an ox that eateth grass,” and in every instance, in which their 
hopes or fears, led them to adopt and practise the base super- 
stitions of the Gentiles. 


46 


And has it not prevailed over the still greater light, which 
ahines from the gospel of Christ, exhibiting more clearly Him, 
whom the light of nature and the ancient dispensation had re- 
vealed to mankind ? Not long since, the great body of the 
Christian church (for it then preserved that name) was devot- 
ed to image worship, and was at no very great remove from 
the spirit of pagan idolaters. 


(B.) 


The two classes of worshippers. 

I 

Neergune bhukte , and suggune bhulde, are the phrases, by 
which in the Mahratta language, these classes are distinguish- 
ed 5 and they are in common use. The meaning of bhukte is 
worshipper ; of neergune, without qualities, and of suggunc , 
with qualities. A neergune worshipper, worships God as an 
invisible spirit, “ unformed and uncreated,” without any in- 
termediate agency. A suggune worshipper, worships gods 
formed and created, and by the means of images visible to the 
eye. Those who completely attain the spiritual worship, like 
God himself, are said to possess perfect equality of mind, are 
indifferent to good or evil events, and take no interest in sen- 
sible things. Thus, they are purer than the gods, who like 
men are capable of pleasure and pain, arc interested by sur- 
rounding objects, are selfish and sensual. Such are said to 
have been the ancient Rishis. Such, I have been told, I know 
not on what authority, are the holy men who inhabit the forests, 
— Uegambers , i. e. those who are clad only with the atmosphere. 
It is not thought, I believe, that any of the devotees, who are 
about the temples ^id who necessarily mingle, in some degree, 
with the world, have attained to that similarity with God, 
which has been above described. They profess to aim at its 
attainment, and if being clad only with the atmosphere, may 


be admitted as proof of their success many have attained it* 
while a scrap of cloth is the only remaining badge of impurity 
in the rest. 

Some of the means of attaining the spiritual state, are, an 
entire separation from business, and living by beggary, allow- 
ing the hair and nails to grow untrimincd, reading the vedas 
or holy books, and practising jup and tup, which, if I under- 
stand the words from the frequent explanation, and specimen 
of the exercise. given by a Brahmin, imply, whilst constantly 
practising austerity and devotion, an endeavor, by inhaling the 
breath, to draw the soul to the top of the head, which is the 
heaven of the human body, that by that means, it may come 
into more immediate contact with Hie divine nature. The ob- 
ject which is expected to be attained, at last, by the various 
means that are used, is termed Mooktee, by which is meant 
eternal salvation — i. e. “ a release from future transmigration, 
and an absorption into the nature of the Godhead.” 

The spiritual worship, is acknowledged by all, to be the 
true and proper worship of God ; while the condition of men, 
as inhabiting bodies, and actuated by senses, renders them in- 
capable of it. This is the Hindoo’s apology for idolatry, and 
one, to which he likewise betakes himself when accused of im- 
morality. A shrug of the shoulders, and the single word 
sungser, form a very common answer to reproof in either case. 
This word it is difficult to translate. It signifies the present 
condition of men — the corrupt, and corrupting element, in 
which the soul of man is drowned. Sunken in that element, 
he is excusable, though he perform not the actions suitable to 
another element Nothing that corresponds to sense, or that 
gratifies passion, is to be condemned, while man is actuated 
by his passions and senses. The blame falls, not upon the 
person who may be idolatrous and immoral, but, upon the con- 
dition in which he is placed, — the nature of the dispensation 
under which he lives, — the very passions and lusts which ac- 
tuate him, and the temptations by which he is surrounded. 
The reader will not fail to be reminded ,^>y this statement, of 
the vain excuses by which men that enjoy the light of the gos- 
pel, too commonly justify themselves. It is natural to men to 
claim innocence, even in the act of doing wrong. Confession 


48 


of th efact, is not found by observation in any country, neces- 
sarily, to imply a sense of ill-desert. 

It is not to be understood, that those who worship the <?ods+ 
b'y means of images, pay, at the same time, an indirect worship 
to the Great Supreme. The reader will probably have observ- 
ed, in the specimens which have been given of the conversation 
of the Hindoos, that idol worship is a mode of worshipping the 
gods ; and that the worship of the gods, is not a mode of wor- 
shipping the Supreme but a substitute for it, designed and suit- 
ed to accommodate beings actuated by sense and passion, and 
living in an age of corruption and baseness. The worship of 
the gods, leads therefore, to a direct and entire neglect of 
Him : and in it, there is no reference to him, except it be, that 
the practice of it, has a tendency to prepare the soul by de- 
grees, and as rapidly as the corruption of man, and the bustle 
of the world will admit, for a higher worship, and after various 
transmigrations, for the attainment of mooktee, or absorption. 


(C.) 


The assemblies of the Hindoos to hear the legends of the gods. 

The assemblies of the Hindoos, to hear the legends of the 
gods, are very frequent, and of various kinds. To all classes 
they furnish a favorite amusement, in which they frequently 
forget at night, the business and cares of the day. The expo- 
sition which is given is needful to the most; since those who 
are able to read, and much more those who are not so, (who 
form the greater part) are unable to understand the Sanscrit 
words, with which the most common books are filled. They 
listen with eager attention, and become by frequent opportu- 
nities, familiarly acquainted with the actions of their gods, and 
with the ideas which are inculcated in their books. 

Small assemblies of ten, twenty, or thirty, are very coirt- 


49 


mon. In these, the expounder sits upon the floor, with the 
leaves of his book lying on a little stool before him. Tuning 
his voice to his vina or harp (the tones of which resemble those 
of the Alolian harp) he chauts and expounds, verse by verse, 
the poem before him. As the hearers enter, they bow their 
hands and heads to the feet of the speaker, and then, to the 
rest of the company. Sometimes they hang a string of flow- 
ers upon the speaker's neck. They then sit down and receive 
fioin the master of the ceremonies, a mark of sandal wood or 
other dust upon their foreheads. 

The beginning of every chapter in the history of the gods, is 
an invocation of Gunputtee, and a hymn of praise to him and 
other Gods. It consists of a repetition of titles,* each of 
which refers to some new claim to honor, and of a prayer for 
happiness. In this, and in a shorter but similar hymn which 
closes the chapter, the whole company unite w ith loud voices, 
while as they repeat the divine names, they bring their hands 
to their foreheads, and in that attitude of salutation and hom- 
age, bow their faces to the earth. Seeta-jRam, Seeta-Ram, fre- 
quently repeated, meaning Ramchundre and Seeta his wife, 
give us happiness, or char-bhuja, Sree-Krishna, meaning four- 
liancled Krishna and Sree his wife, are specimens of the praises 
on these occasions. With such praises, they close the exer- 
cise in one united act of obeisance. 

The artee or censer, which contains camphor, or some other 
aromatic gum, and sometimes a few kernels of rice, is then 
lighted up, and waved, first before the face of the speaker, and 
then before the faces of each person in the company. In their 
turns they place their hands over the fume, and then, bowing 
as if still in the act of devotion, apply them to their faces. A 
little sugar, distributed between the thumb and finger, is the 
usual entertainment w ith which these meetings are concluded. 

There are larger assemblies for a similar purpose, meeting 
in large private rooms, in the vestibules of the temples, an<- 
under temporary canopies, spread from side to side, in thr 
open streets. The place of meeting is generally splendidly il- 

* See praises of Vishnoo, note G. 

7 


so 


iuminated, anti sometimes with vari-coloretl lamps. The Ora- 
tor addresses his audience, memoriter , in some cases, in an 
uninterrupted story ; in others he sings a verse or two, only, 
accompanied by the voices and instruments of an attendant 
choir. These he afterwards explains in a familiar manner, 
and then waves his hand to his companions, who strike up a 
noisy chorus, and then repeat another verse. Sometimes, the 
object of the speaker seems to be to interest by narrative, and 
sometimes, by mimicry and buffoonrv, to excite tiie merriment 
of his audience. 

At the commencement of these exercises, as well as in the 
smaller assemblies, the whole number unite with the speaker, 
in frequently repeating the names of some of the gods. Even 
in the midst of the address, at a signal given by him, loud and 
general acclamations are made in their honor, and the heads of 
the whole assembly bow towards the earth, like coin bending 
with the w ind. 

During the whole course of the exercise, the speaker is re- 
ceiving the obeisance of those who enter. Generally, before 
the close, he becomes literally loaded with the strings of flow- 
ers, which his hearers hang upon his neck, and with the fra- 
grance of which, the air is filled. 'When the censer is waved 
before him at the close, those who are so disposed, drop money 
into it, as a recompense for the amusement and advantage he 
has afforded them. 

To read, or hear, the legends of the Gods, (as it is general- 
ly stated at the close of each chapter,) is an act of great holi- 
ness and merit; not exceeded by pilgrimages to the rtiost sac- 
red places, and washing in the holiest wafers. Attendance, 
therefore, upon such meetings as have been described, is an 
act in which piety concurs with pleasure, and is a cheap and 
easy method of becoming quite clean from every defilement. 
A striking instance, of resort to this mode of purification, is 
exhibited annually, at the close of the huli holidays, about the 
beginning of April, when the pollutions incurred, by a fort- 
night of ribaldry and indecency, are cleansed in a single eve- 
ning. Then the natives, conscious of defilement, even in acts 
sanctioned and required by their religion, assemble from every 


51 


part, to hear the actions of the gods ; as they might themselves 
express it, like the crowd of pilgrims at the sacred pvuyog — 
that place of unparalleled sanctity and efficacy, in the neigh- 
borhood of Benares, sacred to Maha-deva, where the Jumna, 
the Screswati, and the Ganges meet together. 


(I>.) 

The earthen age. 

The Hindoos reckon four yugs or ages, each of which is of 
immense duration. The first, is Kreta or satya yug which 
was the first age of the world ; the golden age , — the age of 
purity. After this, there is a gradual decrease in the length 
of human life, (which in this age was supposed to be an hun- 
dred thousand years,) and a gradual deterioration in the mor- 
al state of men. The second, is Treta Tug, the silver age, 
having three parts good. The third, is Dwapar Vug, the cop- 
per age, in which half the human race became depraved, and 
the fourth, is Kale Vug, the earthen age, the age of “ conten- 
tion and baseness,” of which 491S years are now elapsed. 

The four Yugs, my Brahmin told me, are figured in the 
four watches of the day : night is the dissolution of all things, 
which is called, maha pralaya, the great dissolution, which is 
applied to sleep, to death, and to the dissolution of all things 
at the end of Kale Vug. 


(E.) 


The annual drowning of the gods. 

The Author is not certain, that the people, generally, un- 
derstand this ceremony, to refer to the final destruction of the 
gods. He has heard it so interpreted among the most illiter- 


52 


ate ; and it seems to be an expressive type of an event, which 
all classes expect. 

The day of drowning the gods, is one of the greatest holidays 
among the Hindoos. It takes place, generally, about the mid- 
dle of September, or, if I am not mistaken, the fourth day of 
the new moon in that month. 

This anniversary is a season of universal motion among the 
natives. Every where, their din is heard, and every where, 
they appear advancing to the place of ceremony. Great num- 
bers carry their gods down the sloping shore of the sea ; but 
the principal place of resort, in Bombay, is what is called 
Bombay davee's tank, a large reservoir of sacred water, in the 
centre of the native town. It is walled with hewn stone on 
its four sides. On the southern and western sides, arc flights 
of steps, down which the natives are constantly going to bathe 
their bodies or procure water. In the centre of the tank is a 
high pillar, which is a religious emblem of Mahadeva. On the 
top of it a red flag is constantly waving, and the sides of it are 
filled with niches for lamps, on the great holidays. Two other 
pillars of the same description, stand on each side of the prin- 
cipal flight of steps. A flagged loot-walk, enclosed by a plais- 
tered seat, surrounds the tank. Here, of an evening, may be 
seen great numbers of the natives, some walking and sitting, 
whilst the temples belonging to the place, are thronged with 
worshippers, and resound with the din of worship. The tem- 
ples are sacred to different deities ; one of them to Parvati, the 
wife of Mahadeva. She is the goddess of Bombay and gives 
name to this sacred place. 

It is common, on the day of the ceremony to which this note 
refers, to see this enclosure which contains, perhaps, two acres 
of ground, crowded with people — with a multitude, who having 
finished their own service, are spectators, of those who are 
continually arriving to accomplish theirs. 

There are great varieties in the size, quality, and decora- 
tions of the several shrines ; which vary according to the cir- 
cumstances of those who bring them. The poorer sort are 
content with spending a very few rupees ; while the richest 
may expend some hundreds. All, however, have something 


53 


of a splendid appearance, being ornamented with gold and sil- 
ver paper. 

The shrines which belong to the poorer natives are brought 
upon the head, by a single man. Those which belong to the 
richer are brought by four men in palankeens or on litters. 
Upon the litters are frequently borne two servants, one on 
each side of the god, holding brushes in their hands, which 
they constantly use in keeping oil' the insects. There are, 
generally, attendant, a band of music, and a flag. 

As soon as they are brought to the margin of the water, the 
shrines are placed upon the ground, when a Brahmin by a 
repetition of verses, sprinkling with flowers, and corporeal 
salutations, performs the last act of worship. The god is then 
removed from the shrine in which he was brought, and the or- 
naments, with which he had been adorned, and is carried out 
into the centre of the tank, sometimes in a boat, and some- 
times by an expert swimmer, where he is plunged in the wa- 
ter. The swimmers, of which there are generally several, are 
extremely active and efficient in this singular business of god- 
destroying. 

"VYhile I have been seeing this ceremony performed, I re- 
member to have had my attention excited, by the noise of 
processions, passing the temples with elevated flags, instead 
of entering the enclosure to perform the ceremony I w f as wit- 
nessing. W hen I asked the cause, I was told they were the 
flags of various deities, going on visits of ceremony among 
themselves, each to the temple of another. 

In 1812, I witnessed the same ceremony in Calcutta. The 
day of drowning the gods, was there, too, a day of great noise 
and confusion. I was then living in the suburbs of Calcutta, 
where I had an opportunity of seeing less, than I should have 
seen in a more central situation. But still I was astonished 
by the number of enshrined gods, that passed my post of ob- 
servation (for I observed them with eager curiosity) in the 
course of a few hours. About sunset, Mr. Hall and myself 
followed those that were then passing to the river — a branch 
of the holy Ganges, from whence we saw r boat after boat bear- 
ing the gods into the middle of the river. 


54 

(*•) 

The moral character of the Supreme Being. 

The Hindoos seem to have been taught, either by the light 
of nature, or by tradition, or more probably by both, that the 
Supreme God must be perfect and holy : — that to be like men 
and gods , selfish and depraved ; incessantly actuated by cor- 
rupt desires to guilty conduct, must he inconsistent with the 
essential attributes of the uncreated and independent Deity. 
It probably has been a conviction of this truth, which has led 
them to conceive of Him as having no direct concern in the 
affairs of the universe, — as “ without passions, without sensa- 
tion, without desires, without happiness ,” — as “ enchained by 
Maya,” and even asleep, till matter be destroyed. As they 
themselves, are actuated by sinful and selfish feelings, towards 
the objects in which they feel an interest, they seem inclined 
to believe that those feelings are the necessary consequences 
of the condition of temptation in which they are placed, and 
that similar consequences would follow, if, even the Supreme 
himself, could be supposed to take an interest in the affairs of 
the universe. Undisturbed equanimity, seems to be the near- 
est resemblance to essential holiness, which their gross minds 
are able to conceive ; and in this, they seem to imagine the 
moral perfection of the Supreme Being to consist. 

Those fictitious characters, who, by a spiritual service have 
become a part of God, have the same kind of moral perfection, 
which is ascribed to Him. They possess that disinterested- 
ness, which seems allied to stupidity, by which, they are free 
from pleasure and pain, love and hatred, joy and sorrow. 
Thus they are unl“:e the gods ; unlike even the primeval dei- 
ties, Bratnha, Vishnoo, and Seeva, who, being concerned in the 
management of the world, notwithstanding their exalted dig- 
nity, are, necessarily, (as it would seem the Hindoo supposes,) 
subject to the passions and feelings, which belong to all active 
existence#. 

Whether the explanation which has been given, of the 
views which the Hindoos entertain of the moral character of 
God, and of his imagined seclusion, be correct or not, it is evi- 


55 


iknt that those views prepare them to admit all the foolish 
fables of their mythology. 



Primeval deities. 

The primeval deities, are Bramha, the creator, Vishnoo, the 
preserver, and Seeva, the destroyer. They are known, like- 
wise, by a great variety of names, each of which is honorary, 
and which have been easily multiplied to an immense extent, 
in languages easily compounded. 

Bramha, the reader has been already informed, sprung from 
the flower of the lotos or water-lily, which floated on the sur- 
face of the sea, at the bottom of which, lay the recumbent Vish- 
noo. He is represented in the Hymn of Sir William Jones, 
which has been presented to the reader, as anxiously seeking 
to know his origin, his powers, and the object of his existence. 
There is a popular story, which (l write from recollection) 
represents him, as assisted in his researches by a cow. 
Whence that cow originated, before the creator had begun his 
work, I do not remember that the legend declares. The Hin- 
doos are at no pains to preserve consistency in the different 
parts of their mythology. By the assistance of the cow, who 
traversed the stem of the lotos, the recumbent Vishnoo, was 
discovered. 

When Bramha discovered his origin, his expressions of grat- 
itude were so remarkable, as to procure him the honor of cre- 
ating the world. By this new favor, his gratitude was turned 
to pride, and being puffed up with the honor of his office, he 
began to defame the deity by whom it was conferred. This 
Change in his behaviour, roused the wrath of the insulted god, 


56 


who immediately produced an agent of vengeance, named 
Buried) who cut off one of Bramha's five head9. Thus as- 
saulted, he felt disposed to return to his allegiance, and to re- 
cover the favor of his offended superior. lie therefore cele- 
brated his praises in a song, and came again into favor. Still, 
however, he retains so much of his pride, that he will be made 
of less dignity and importance, than the monkey Hanumunt ; 
and is not to be honored by either temple or worshipper. 
The fact is, that he has neither temple nor worshipper among 
the Hindoos. 

In the creation of men by Bramha, the Hindoos discover the 
origin of their four great casts , or classes of people. They 
proceeded from the creator in the following order, which indi- 
cates both their dignity, and the nature of their office. 

The Brahmin cast, proceeded from his mouth; and are to 
pray, to read, and to instruct. 

The Cshatriya, from his arms ; and are to draw the bow, 
to fight, and to govern. 

The Bice, from the belly or thighs ; and are to provide the 
necessaries of life by agriculture and traffic. 

The Sooder, from the feet : and they are to labor and to 
serve.* 

* These are the only original casts. The three lowest are now, 
it is said, much mingled together, and the lines between them are 
not very distinctly marked. There are now, however, a great 
number of casts who hold society within themselves, and who nei- 
ther intermarry, nor eat, with those ont of their own cast. These 
casts owe their origin, it is supposed, to the state of confusion and 
disturbance, in which India has been for centuries, and which ren- 
dered clanships, necessary for protection and security. In the po- 
lice at Bombay, there are registered, if my recollection is correct, 
270 casts. 

The race of people called Pariurs, or outcasts, have an appear- 
ance of wretchedness, which is beyond all description. Regarded 
by all the other classes, as degraded, they are shunned with the 
greatest care. They are considered as polluting every tiling they 
touch, defiling the water of the wells where they draw, and even, as 
throwing pollution by their shadow. I have been told, that in Poo- 
nah, a Pariar exposes himself to legal punishment, if he allows his 
shadow to fall upon a Brahmin. The consequence of the contempt 
with which they are treated, is, that they imbibe a low opinion of 
themselves, think themselves unfit for society, and become really a- 
low and degraded as thov are supposed to be. 


57 


The wife of Bramha is Sereswati, the goddess of music and 
eloquence. She has attendant gods and goddesses, rags and 
ragnees , which seem to be no more than personifications of the 
dift'erent tones in music. 

Vishnoo , who has been already described as four-handed, 
and lying on a many-headed serpent at the bottom of the sea, 
is represented, likewise, as of a dark sky blue colour, and in 
his incarnations, (of which an account will presently be given 
to the reader,) clothed from the waist in bright yellow skirts. 
These are eminent qualities, and are greatly celebrated in 
hymns to his praise. Garuda, a bird, the porter of heaven, 
is the conveyance on which lie rides. 

The following hymn of praise to Vishnoo, is not the best 
specimen, among those I have seen, but is the ouly one, which 
it is in my power to give the reader. It will serve lor some 
further explanation of the character of Vishnoo, and to give 
the reader an idea of the praises, which the Hindoos bestow 
upon their gods. Some of its allusions, the reader will better 
understand, after he has read the account of the several incar- 
nations. It is extracted from the introduction to one of the 
chapters of a popular legend, and is as follows : 

“ Vishnoo of great wealth, the boar incarnation, giver of blessings, 
husband of Lacshmi, friend of the water-lily, displaying the whole 
universe in his open mouth, to whose various appearances there is 
no end, bound by his mother about his loins, Vishnoo, sleeping in 
the waters, Immortal, residing as the fountain of life in all bodies, 
son of Wasudeva, remaining in the breast of 3Iahadeva.” 

Vishnoo is sometimes spoken of by his votaries, (in like 
manner as Seeva by his,) as the Supreme : 

“Not, says Sir William Jones, that the Brahmins imagine their 
male deity to be the divine essence of the Great one, which they de- 
clare to be wholly incomprehensible ; but, since the power of pre- 
serving created things by a superintending providence, belongs em- 
inently to the God-head, they hold that power to exist transcend- 
antly in the preserving member of the Triad, whom they suppose to 
be every where always, not in substance, but in spirit and energy.”* 

* See Essay on the gods of Greece, Italy and Indiai 

8 


58 


Lacshmi , the wife of Vighnoo, rose from the foam of the 
ocean, when it was churned by gods and demons, with a large 
mountain, as will be presently described. She is Sree, the 
goddess of fortuiae and prosperity. To secure her favor, the 
Hindoo writes her name at the beginning of every instrument. 
When my instructor gave me a copy of the alphabet, and like- 
wise in copying the gospel of Luke, for my fellow Missionary, 
Mr. Hall, the first word he wrote was Sree. 

Seeva, the destroyer, has three eyes, but only one head and 
two hands, and as an emblem of his character, is represented 
With a serpent coiled around his neck. His conveyance is a 
white bull. — His celestial residence is mount Cailasa, “ every 
splinter of whose rocks is an inestimable gem.” His terres- 
trial residence is the mountain Himalaya, whose tops are cov- 
ered with perpetual snow. From his head flows the Ganges, 
the cause and manner of which is thus described by Sir Wil* 
Haiti Jones in his hymn to Ganga : 

‘‘ Above the stretch of mortal ken, 

On bless’d Cailasa's top, where every stem 
Glow’d with a vegetable gem, 

Maheaa stood, the dread and joy of men ; 

While Parvati, to gain a boon, 

Fix’d on his locks a beamy moon, 

And hid his frontal eye, in jocund play, 

With reluctant sweet delay. 

All nature straight was lock’d in dim eclipse, 

Till Brahmins pure, with hallow’d lips, 

And warbled prayers, restor’d the day ; 

When Ganga from his brow, by heavenly fingers press’d, 
Sprang radiant, and, descending grac’d the caverns of the west.” 

Parvdli, is the wife of Seeta, and the daughter of Daetsja. 
She leapt into the fire in a fit of anger, because her husband 
had not been invited to her father’s jaga, or sacrifice. By 
this event, the anger of Seeva was excited, and from his per- 
spiration on that occasion, proceeded a minor deity, named 
Virepadra. He at the request of his father, put an end to the 
sacrifice and life of Daetsja, struck the sun so severe a blow 
as to break out his teeth, and by his blows upon the moon, gave 
it that spotted appearance which it has unto this day. 


5i> 


The prayers of the devetas, or good spirits, appeased the an- 
ger of Seeva. He restored Daetsja to life, and gave him a 
bullock's head. 

The following account of the marriage of Seeva and Parvati, 
is given by Maurice from the Seeva pooraun. 

“ All the devetas, and other inhabitants of the celestial regions, 
being collected at the summons of Bhagavat, to arrange the ceremo- 
nials of the marriage of Seeva and Parvati, first came Bramha, 
mounted on his goose, with the reyshees at his stirrup ; next Visli- 
noo, riding on Garud his eagle, with the chank,* checkra, the club 
and the pedivef in his hands. Indra also, and Yama, and Cuvera, 
and Varuna, and the rivers Ganga and Jumna, and the seven seas. 
The gandarvasj also, and apsaras,^ and Vusookee, and other ser- 
pents, all dressed in superb chains and habits of ceremony', were to 
be seen in order amid the crowded and glittering cavalcade. 

And now, Seeva, after the arrival of all the devetas, and the com- 
pletion of the preparations for the procession, set out, in the utmost 
pomp and splendor, from the mountain Cailasa. His third eye 
flamed like the sun, and the crescent on his forehead assumed the 
form of a radiated diadem ; Ins snakes were exchanged for chains 
and necklaces of pearls and rubies, his ashes for sandal and perfume, 
and his elephant’s skin for a silken robe, so that none of the devetas 
in brilliance came near his figure. The bridal attendants now 
spread wide abroad the carpet of congratulation, and arranged in 
order the banquet of bliss. Nature herself assumed the appearance 
of renovated youth, and the sorrowing universe recalled its long- 
forgotten happiness. The gandarvas and apsaras began their melo- 
dious songs, and the genes and keenners displayed the magic of 
their various musical instruments. The earth and its inhabitants 
exulted with tongues of glorification and triumph ; fresh moisture 
invigorated the withered victims of time : a thousand happy and an- 
imating conceptions inspired the hearts of the intelligent, and en- 
lightened the wisdom of the thoughtful : the kingdom of external 
forms obtained gladness, the w orld of intellect acquired brightness. 
The dwellers upon earth stocked the casket of their ideas with the 
jewels of delights, and reverend pilgrims exchanged their beads for 
pearls. The joy of those on earth ascended up to heaven, and the 
tree of the bliss of those in heaven extended its auspicious branches 
downwards to the earth. The eyes of the devetas flamed like 
torches on beholding these scenes of rapture, and the hearts of the 
just kindled like touchwood on hearing these ravishing symphonies. 


* Cone shell, f Battle axe. t Musicians, 
Dancing girls of heaven. 


60 


Thus Seeva set off, like a garden in full blow, and paradise was 
eclipsed by his motion.” 

The grandeur of Seeva’s motion which eclipses paradise, 
may be conceived by the following extravagant description of 
his setting out on another occasion, which I have derived from 
the same source. 

“ In the place of the right wheel blazed the. sun ; in tire place of 
the left was the moon ; instead of the brazen nails and bolts, which 
firmly held the ponderous wheels, were distributed brahmins on 
the right hand and rishis on the left ; in lieu of the canopy on the 
top of the chariot was overspread the vault of heaven ; the coun- 
terpoise of the wheels was on the east and west. — The four vedas 
were placed as the horses of the chariot, and Sereswati was for the 
bell ; — Bramha himself was the charioteer, and the naeshatras (con- 
stellations) and stars were distributed about it by way of ornaments. 
Sumaru was in the place of a bow, the serpent Seschanaga was 
stationed as the string, Vishnoo instead of an arrow, and fire was 
constituted its point. Ganges and other rivers were appointed its 
precursors ; and the setting out of the chariot, with its appendages 
and furniture, one would affirm to be the year of twelve months 
gracefully moving forward. 

When Seeva with his numerous troops and prodigious army, was 
mounted, Bramha drove so furiously, that thought itself, which, in 
its rapid career, compasses heaven and earth, could not keep pace 
w ith it. By the motion of the chariot heaven and earth were put 
in tremor ; and, as the earth was not able to bear up under this 
burden, the cow of the earth Kam-deva took upon itself to support 
the weight.” 


The incarnations of Vishnoo. 

The incarnations of Vishnoo are ten in number, nine or 
which are past, and one is yet to come. 

The first was in the form of a fish. An account of it is giv- 
en by Sir W. Jones from the Bhagavat an Indian poem, 
which, with some omissions, I shall present to the reader. 

a At the close of the last Calpa ,* there was a general destruction 
•eeasioned by the sleep of Brahma : whence his creatures in differ 
ent worlds were drowned in a vast ocean. Bramha, being inclined 

* The agggregate of the four pugs, or ages, is called a divine ag*, 
d >nd a thousand divine ages, constitute a Calpa, or day of Bramha. 

i 


61 


to slumber, desiring repose after a lapse of ages, the strong demon 
Hayagriva came near him, and stole the Vedas * which had (lowed 
from his lips. When Wen, f the preserver of the universe, discover- 
ed this deed of the Prince of Danavas,\ he took the shape of .a 
minute fish, called sap'hari. A holy king, named Satyavrata, then 
reigned; a servant of the spirit, which moved on the waves, and 
so devout that water was his only sustenance. — One day, as he was 
making a libation in the river Crita mala, and held water in the 
palm ot his hand, he perceived a small fish moving in it. The king 
of Dravira immediately dropped the fish into the river together with 
the water which he had taken from it ; when thc'sap’/iarf thus pa- 
thetically addressed the benevolent monarch ; ‘ How canst thou, O 
King, who showest affection to the oppressed, leave me in this river- 
water, where I am too weak to resist the monsters of the stream, 
who fill me with dread ?’ He, not knowing who had assumed the 
form of a fish, applied his mind to the preservation of the sap'hari, 
both from good nature and from regard to his own soul : and, hav- 
ing heard its very suppliant address, he kindly placed it under his 
protection in a small vase full of water ; but in a single night, its 
hulk was so increased, that it could not be contained in the jar, and 
thus again addressed the illustrious Prince : ‘ I am not pleased with 
living miserably in this little vase ; make me a large mansion, where 
I may dwell in comfort.’ The king removing it thence, placed it 
in the water of a cistern ; hut it grew three cubits in less than fifty 
minutes, and said : ‘ O King, it pleases me not to stay vainly in this 
narrow cistern ; since thou hast granted me an asylum, give me a 
spacious habitation.’ He then removed it, and placed it in a pool, 
where, having ample space around its body, it became a fish of con- 
siderable size. ‘ This abode, O King, is not convenient for me, who 
must swim at large in the w aters : exert thyself for my safety, and 
remove me to a deep lake.’ Thus addressed, the pious monarch 
threw the suppliant into a lake, and when it grew r of equal bulk with 
that piece of water, he cast the vast fish into the sea. When the 
fish was thrown into the waves, he thus again spoke to Satyavrata : 
‘Here the horned sharks and other monsters of great strength, will de- 
vour me ; thou shouldst not, O valiant man, leave me in this ocean.’ 
Thus repeatedly deluded by the fish, who had addressed him with 
gentle words, the king said : ‘ W'ho art thou, that beguilest me in 
that assumed shape ? — Surely thou art the great Heri, whose dwel- 
ling was on the waves. — Salutation and praise to thee, O first male, 
the lord of creation, of preservation, of destruction. — I am anxious 
to know , for what cause that shape has been assumed by thee.’ 
The lord of the universe, loving the pious man who thus implored 



4 


* Holy Books, f Vishnoo. J Evil spirits. 


62 


him, and intending to preserve him from the sea of destruction 
caused by the depravity of the age, thus told him how he was to 
act. ‘ In seven days from the present time, O thou tamer of ene- 
mies, the three worlds w ill be plunged in an ocean of death ; but in 
the midst of the destroying waves, a large vessel, sent by me for 
thy use, shall stand before thee. Then shalt thou take all medicinal 
herbs, all the variety of seeds, and, accompanied by seven saints, 
encircled hv pairs of all brute animals, thou shalt enter the spacious 
ark, and continue in it, secure from the flood, on one immense ocean 
without light, except the radiance of thy holy companions. When 
the ship shall be agitated by an impetuous wind, thou shalt fasten 
it with a large sea-serpent on my horn. For I will be with thee. — I 
will remain on the ocean, O chief of men, until a night of Bramha 
shall be completely ended.’ — Heri, having then directed the mon- 
arch, disappeared : and Satyavrita humbly waited for the time, 
which the ruler of our senses had appointed. The pious king, hav- 
ing scattered towards the East the pointed blades of the grass varbha 
and turning his face towards the North, sat meditating on the feet 
of the God, who had home the form of a fish. The si a over- 
whelming its shores deluged the whole earth ; and it was soon per- 
ceived to be augmented by showers from immense clouds. He 
still meditating on the command of Bhagavat,* saw the vessel ad- 
vancing, and entered it with the chiefs of Brahmans. — The god, be- 
ing iuvoked by the monarch, appeared again distinctly on the vast 
ocean, in the form of a fish blazing like gold, extending a million of 
leagues, with one stupenduous horn ; on w hich the king, a-- he had 
before been commanded by Heri, tied the ship with a cable made 
of a vast serpent, and happy in his preservation, stood praising the 
destroyer of Madhu. — Then lleri, rising together with Bramha 
from the destructive deluge, w hich was abated, slew the demon 
Hayagriva, and recovered the sacred books. — He who shall de- 
voutly hear this important allegorical narrative, will be delivered 
from the bondage of sin.” 

t: This epitome of the first Indian History that is now extant, 
(says Sir William Jones) appears to me very curious and very im- 
portant ; for the story, though whimsically dressed up in the form 
of an allegory, seems to prove a primeval tradition in this country 
(India) of the universal deluge described by Moses.”) 

In his second incarnation, Vishuoo assumed the form of an 
immense tortoise, for the purpose of supporting on his hack, the 
mountain Mandar, while gods and demons churned the sea. 
By this operation, lourtccn precious tilings were produced 

* Vishnoo. f Essay on the gods of Greece. Italy and Home. 


63 


from tlie ocean, among which, the chief, was the amreela , or 
water ot* life. 

In his third incarnation, Vishnoo assumed the form of a l>oar, 

to draw up and support on his tusks the whole earth, which 
had been sunk beneath the ocean. ” Tire earth, according to a 
Hindoo legend, had been drowned by Ilirungak&r, who by the 
performance of religious duties, had so gained a power over 
tire gods, as to be able to ask and receive whatever boon he 
pleased.* 

In his fourth incarnation, Vishnoo assumed the compound 
form, of part man and part lion. Hiningalcushup , t by a mul- 
tiplication of austerities, had obtained an unlimited power of 
doing evil, and security, as he thought, from every danger to his 
person, and from every interruption to his nefarious designs. 
The divine promise secured him from the violence of man or 
beast, by day or by night, and any where on the face of the 
earth. That the havoc of this evil being might be arrested, 
and the divine promise remain still unbroken, Vishnoo, as a 
man-lion issued from a marble pillar, which divided into two 
parts, in the time of twilight, and raising him from the ground 
tore out his entrails. The occasion of his appearance is said 
to have been as follows. 

Pralhaud, the son of Hirungaikushup having'bcen educated 
by a venerable sage, was remarkable for holy dispositions. 
His father persecuted him for his piety, and banished him from 
his court. At length he became softened, and recalled his 
son. As he sat in full assembly he began to argue against the 
supremacy of Vishnoo, and boasted that himself was lord of 
all the visible world, and asked what could Vishnoo pretend 
to more. Pralhaud replied that Vishnoo had no fixed abode, 
but was present every where. ; Is he,’ said his father, ‘ in 
that pillar ?’ ‘ Yes, returned Pralhaud.’ ‘ Then let him come 
forth,’ said Hirungakushup ; and rising from his seat struck 
the pillar with his foot; upon which, Vishnoo, assuming the 
form of a man-lion came out of the pillar and tore him in 
pieces.} 

* See Panoplist for October, 1816 , page 472 . f Sec do. page 475 . 

} See Chambers — Asiatic Researches. 


G4 


tn the pictures of this incarnation, the man-lion appears* 
standing between the parts of the divided pillar in the act of 
taking vengeance. 

The fifth incarnation of Vishnoo, was in the form of a dwarf* 
whose name was Vamen . — Its object, to obtain by artifice, the 
dominion of the universe, which had passed from the gods, in- 
to the hands of the giant Baly. Baly had conquered the 
gods and expelled them from heaven, but still preserved the 
character of generosity and kindness. Vishnoo having assu- 
med the form of a very little Brahmin, presented himself be- 
fore the giant, and begged for three paces of land to build a 
hut. The scene on this occasion is happily aud correctly 
described in the following lines of the poet Southey. 

“ The incarnate came before the mighty one, 

In dwarfish stature, and in mien obscure ; 

The sacred cord he bore, 

And ask’d for Brama’s sake, a little boon, 

Three steps of Baly’s ample reign, no more. 

Poor was the boon requir’d, and poor was he 
Who begg’d,....a little wretch it seem’d to be ; 

But Baly ne’er refused a suppliant’s prayer. 

V glance of pity in contemptuous mood, 

He on the dwarf cast down, 

And bade him take the boon, 

And measure where he would. 

Lo, son of giant birth, 

l take my grant ! the incarnate power replies. 

With his first step he measur’d o’er the earth, 

The second spann’d the skies. 

Three paces thou hast granted. 

Twice have I set my footstep, Vishnoo cries. 

Where shall the third be planted ? 

Then Baly knew the god, and at his feet, 

In homage due, he laid his humble head. 

Mighty art thou, O lord of earth and heaven, 

Mighty art thou ! he said, 

Be merciful, and let me be forgiven. 

He ask’d for mere}' of the merciful, 

And mercy for his virtue's sake was shown 


G5 


For though lie was cast down to Padalon * 

Yet there, by Yamen’st throne, 

Doth Baly sit in majesty and might, 

To judge the dead, and sentence them aright.”t 

The sixth incarnation of Vishnoo was Parasu-Hama, who is 
thus described in a hymn of a Hindoo Poet, quoted by Sir 
William Jones. 

“Thou bathestin pure water, consisting of the blood Cshatriyas 
the world, whose offences are. removed, and who are relieved froqi 
the pain of other births, O Cesava|| assuming the form of Parasu- 
Rama : Be victorious, O Hen, Lord of the Universe.” 

Vishnoo became incarnate the seventh time, in the person of 
Rama, or llam-Chandre. lie was accompanied by his broth- 
er Lacshman, — an incarnation of the serpent on which Vishnoo 
reposes. His object was to destroy Ravan and other RaLsh- 
russes , or evil beings, who, having acquired incontrolablc pow- 
er, employed it in the misery of Brahmins and herds. Rama 
wielded with success an immense bow, which be employed in 
his combats with his enemies. In the course of his adventures 
his own brother Lacshman was slain, and his wife Seeta carri- 
ed captive by Ravan to Lanca, or the island of Ceylon. Han- 
vmunt , the prince of monkeys, himself too, an incarnation of a. 
heavenly being, and the devoted servant of Rama, brought an 
immense hill to bis master, on which grew efficacious herbs, 
which recovered Lacshman to life. By the assistance of his 
fellow monkeys, he raised a bridge of rocks over the sea, be- 
tween Ceylon and the continent of India, assailed the monster 
Ravan, in his own territories, and recovered Seeta, whom he 
restored to her husband. A part of the bridge, built on this oc- 
casion, (it is said by the Hindoos,) remains to this day. II As 
Rama was walking one day with his brother Lacshman, a 
stone on which he trade was immediately transformed into a 
iemale of beautiful form, who stood up before them and ac» 

* The infernal regions, f The god of death, 
t See Southey’s ‘ Curse of Kehama,’ vol. 2, page 34. 

The warrior cast. || A name of Vishnoo. 
ti They probably refer to what is commonly called, Adam’s bridge 

9 


66 


knowledged with animated praises, the divine Rama as her 
deliverer. “ My name, said she, is Mielya. My father, for a 
great offence, cursed me to be changed into a stone : and 
when I begged a mitigation from the severity of the curse, he 
said $ « When Vishnoo shall assume the form of Rama, thou 
shalt be restored by the impression of his foot.” 

The eighth incarnation of Vishnoo was in the person of 
Krishna ; and this, the Hindoos believe to be the chief of all 
the incarnations. Its object, like that of the former, was to 
destroy a cruel oppressor. When Vishnoo, at the united re- 
quest of gods, Brahmins, and herds, determined to become in- 
carnate on this occasion, he requested the company of the ser- 
pent on which he reposes. The serpent strenuously objected to 
an enterprise of so much difficulty and suffering, as he had rea- 
son to expect, from his experience in his former incarnation, 
in the person of Lacshman. Vishnoo, however, removed his 
objection, by promising, that he himself would stand foremost, 
and bear the brunt, in the present expedition. On this condi- 
tion, the serpent agreed to comply with his request ; which he 
did by assuming the form of Jialeram, the brother of Krishna. 

The name of the oppressor, for whose destruction Vishnoo 
was to become incarnate, was Cansa. On the day of the mar- 
riage of Devaci, his excellent sister, to Vasudeva , Cansa, who 
was present at the ceremony, was warned by a heavenly mes- 
senger, that a son of that sister, whose marriage was then cele- 
brated, would be the means of his own downfal and death. 
To prevent the accomplishment of this dreadful oracle, he en- 
deavored, immediately to murder his sister. Failing in this, 
he determined to adopt a different plan, and to secure his own 
safety by the destruction of her children, at the time of their 
birth. That he might prevent every possibility of their es- 
cape, he closely imprisoned, and carefully guarded, the new- 
married pair. Whenever intelligence was brought him, that 
his sister had borne a child, he rushed to the prison with the 
greatest fury, and hardening his heart against her tears and 
entreaties, tore from her, her helpless infant, bore it from the 
prison, and dashed it in pieces on the rocks. 

The oracle had admonished him that his enemy should be 
the eighth child, but Cansa, at firstj felt it uncertain, whether 


67 


it should be the first, or the last, of eight. Having, however, 
destroyed seven in succession, he kept a stricter guard, and 
watched with peculiar anxiety for the eighth, harrassed with 
awful dreams, in a state of perpetual alarm, and beholding the 
divine Omnipotence coming incarnate to meet him, wherever 
he turned his eyes. When Krishna was born, he laid aside 
for a moment the appearance of an infant, made known to his 
mother, his heavenly origin, and divine powers, ’till she be- 
came so enraptured, as to begin to celebrate his praises. Hav- 
ing given the necessary directions, concerning the means of 
securing his safety, he assumed again the infant form. His 
father took him in his arms to bear him away to MaVhura, a 
distant village, to be fostered by the happy Jinanda, and Yasoda , 
his wife. The doors of the prison opened before him. The 
many-headed serpent attended, and sheltered the sacred charge. 
Having arrived at the house of Ananda, he found there lying, 
another new-born infant, for which he exchanged the incarnate 
deity, and returned secretly with the changeling, to the prison. 
When Cansa arose in the morning, he received the intelligence 
that his sister had borne another son. He rushes madly to the 
prison, seizes his prey, and having brought it to his place of 
slaughter, he raises his hand, and attempts to dash it on a 
rock. With a smile of contempt and triumph, it rises in the 
air, and ascends, till it vanishes from his sight. — It was not a 
real child, but the semblance of one ; — a delusion of Maya , — . 
the power, which produced a material world. 

Yasoda, who was in a sound sleep when Krishna was laid 
by her side, supposed, when she awoke, that he was her oven 
son. The Astrologers, called (after the manner of the Hin- 
doos) to cast the nativity of the child, and declare his desti- 
nies, celebrate his praises. His mother, attends hiip with 
care, and is daily astonished by many manifest tokens of his 
divinity. When he cries, she beholds in his open mouth, the 
three worlds, heaven, earth, and the infernal regions ; — till 
she herself, catches the prophetic flame, and in a kind of holy 
phrenzy, predicts, and expresses, what she little understands, 
or recollects in her sober moments. Cansa, the enemy of the 
child, having heard the place of its abode, used every means to 
effect its destruction. The evil beings that surrounded him, 


68 


were ready to undertake the work, and assumed, a great vari- 
ety of shapes, in order the more certainly, to accomplish their 
design. First a female came, and by her artifice having ob- 
tained the child in her arms, gave it her poisoned breast. In- 
stead of accomplishing her design, her own life was exhausted 
by the omnipotent infant and she sunk down dead before him, 
and received the happiness which necessarily follows immedi- 
ate destruction by the divine hand. This attempt having fail- 
ed, Krishna was assailed by other emissaries of his enemy, un- 
der various assumed forms, over all of whom he came oft’ vic- 
torious. At length, having attained to manhood, he turns as- 
sailant, and effected the destruction of his invincible enemy, 
delivered his parents from their long imprisonment, and re- 
stored rest and comfort to the sufferin'! world : after which he 
returned to VaiconVha his heavenly residence. 

When Krishna was seven years of age, Indra, the god of 
the sky, who had been incensctl by the enthusiastic adoration 
paid to the child by the inhabitants of his village, determined 
to put his divinity to the test. For this purpose he assailed 
Krishna, with a storm of rain, intending by a flood to effect his 
destruction. The lad, unalarined, collected together the 
herdsmen and shepherdesses, and lifted over them the hill 
Goverdhcna, “ as if it had been a flower,” and protected them 
from the flood. For his own amusement, he affected to desire 
their assistance, and sometimes excited their alarm, by pre- 
tending to withdraw his little finger, with which he supported 
the hill, and urging them to exert all their strength. Indra at 
length acknowledged his divinity, put an end to the storm, 
and himself devoutly asked forgiveness of the invincible child. 

Buddha is the ninth incarnation, and the last which has yet 
appeared. At his birth, Rramha received the child on a golden 
vessel, and delivered it to Indra, by whom it was committed 
to the charge of a female attendant ; upon which, the child 
alighting from her arms walked seven paces, when it was tak- 
en up by Maha-Maya (its mother) and carried to her house. 
At this time Tapaswi J\Iuni, who, residing in the rocks, de- 
voted his time to the worship of the Deity, learned by inspira- 
tion that Ruddha was come to life in the Raja's palace : he 
flew through the air to the Raja’s, where, sitting on a throne 


63 


lie said, “ I have repaired hither, for the purpose of visiting 
the child/’ Buddha was accordingly brought into his pres- 
ence. The JIuni observed two feet fir.cd on his head, and, 
divining something but!) of good and had import, began to weep 
and to laugh, alternately. The Raja then questioned him 
with regard to his present impulse, to whom he answered, ‘ I 
must not reside in the same place with Buddha, when he shall 
arrive at the rank of Avatar :* this is the cau*c of my present 
affliction, hut I ain even now affected with gladness by his 
presence, as I am hereby absolved from all my transgressions.' 
The JIuni then departed : and, after five days had elapsed, 
lie assembled four Bandits § for the purpose of calculating the 
destiny of the child, — one of whom divined that he would ar- 
rive at the diguitv of .2 vatar. 

The boy was now named Sacya, and had attained the age of 
sixteen years ; at which period it happened that the Raja Chn- 
kidan , had a daughter named Vasutara, whom he had engaged 
not to give in marriage to any one, till such time as a suitor 
should be found who could brace a certain bow in his posses- 
sion, which, hitherto, many Rajas had attempted to accomplish 
without effect. Sacya now succeeded in the attempt ; and 
accordingly obtained the Raja’s daughter in marriage, with 
whom he repaired to his own place of residence. 

One day, as certain mysteries were revealed to him, he 
formed the design of relinquishing his kingdom ; at which time 
a son was born in his house, whose name was Raghu. Sacya 
then left his palace with only one attendant and a horse, and 
having crossed the river Ganga, arrived at Balucali, where 
having directed his servant to leave him and carry aw r ay his 
horse, he laid aside his armour. 

When the world wms created, there appeared five flow r ers, 
which Bramha deposited in a place of safety : three of them 
were afterwards delivered to the three T'hacurs , and one was 
presented to Sacya, who discovered, that it contained some 
pieces of wearing apparel, in which he clothed himself, and 
adopted the manners and life of a mendicant. A traveller 
one day passed by him with eight bundles of grass on his 

"Incarnation. Learned men. 


70 


shoulders, and addressed him, saying : « A long period has 
elapsed since I have seen the T’hacur ; but now since I have 
the happiness to meet him, I beg to present him an offerin': 
consisting of these bundles of grass.” Sacya accordingly ac- 
cepted of the grass, and reposed on it. At that time there 
suddenly appeared a golden temple, containing a chair of 
wrought gold, and the heighth of the temple was thirty cubits, 
upon which Bramha alighted, and held a canopy over die head 
of Sacya : at the same time Indra descended with a large fan 
in his hand, and JVaga, the Raja of serpents, with shoes in his 
hand, together with the four tutelar deities of the four corners 
of the universe ; who all attended to do him service and rev- 
erence. At this time, likewise, the chief of Asurs* with his 
forces arrived, riding on an elephant, to give battle to Sacya ; 
upon which Bramha, Indra, and the other deities, deserted 
him and vanished. Sacya, observing that he was left alone, 
invoked the assistance of the earth ; who, attending at his 
summons, brought an inundation over all the ground, whereby 
the Asur and his forces were vanquished, and compelled to 
retire. 

At this time five holy scriptures descended from above, and 
Sacya was dignified with the title of Buddlia Avatar. The 
scriptures confer powers of knowledge and retrospection, 
the ability of accomplishing the impulses of the heart, and of 
carrying into effect the words of the mouth. Sacya resided 
here, without breaking his fast, twenty -one days, and then re- 
turned to his own country, where he presides over Rajas, gov- 
erning them with care and equity. ”§ 

Buddha is worshipped, principally, by the Birmans, and the 
Cingalese, but is acknowledged as an incarnation by the Brah- 
mins. It is generally believed that the worship of Buddha cv- 
tensivcly prevailed, anciently, in India, and that fierce con- 
tests between the followers of Buddha and Brahma, resulted 
in the final expulsion of the former, from the country. The 
Buddhists have left very interesting remains in several places 
on the western coast of India. In May, 1814, the Author vis* 

* Evil beings. The word Asurs or Asoors stands opposed to Surf 
or Soars the gods, h Asiatic Researches. 


71 


ited the caves of Canara, on the island of Salsette, and less 
than twenty miles from Bombay. They contain images of 
Buddha, and emblems which have evident reference, to the 
events of his history already given. 

These caves are in the middle of the Island which is six or 
seven miles wide. The ascent to the hill of the caves is by a 
narrow path through the woods, which introduces the visitor 
of a sudden, to the region of art, — to a village of caverns ex- 
cavated by human skill and patience from the solid rock. The 
largest caves, reminded me of churches, and were larger than 
many churches are. The hill seemed to be literally covered 
witli smaller caves, perhaps, from fifteen to thirty feet square. 

The tenth incarnation, which is yet to come is named Calki, 
and “ is, says Sir William Jones, expected to appear mounted 
on a white horse with a cimeter blazing like a comet, to mow 
down all incorrigible and impenitent offenders, who shall then 
be on the earth.” 

To the preceding account of the incarnations, it seems pro- 
per to subjoin the following extracts concerning an incarnation 
of Ganesa or Gunputtee which is supposed to be now residing 
in the Mahratta country not far from Bombay. I have heard 
the testimony of Mrs. Graham confirmed, by an eye witness, 
who accompanied her in the visit 9he describes. 

“ Chimchose, Dec. 19, 1 S09. 

“ I have just seen what I thought I should never have met with on 
this side of Thibet, namely, an alive god, called the Deo of Chim- 
chose, who is nothing less than Ganesa* himself incarnate in the 
person of a boy of twelve years old, the eighth of his family honored 
as the vehicle of the Deity’s appearance on earth. The first was 
Maraba, a Gosseyn, whose piety was so exemplary that Ganesa re- 
warded it by becoming incarnate in his person, at the same time 
committing to his care a sacred stone and the guardianship of his 
own temple, promising the same favors to his descendants for seven 
generations. These are now passed away, but as the piety and su- 
perstition of the Deo’s Neighbors have enriched the family by grants 
of lands, and towns, and villages, the holy Brahmins have decreed 
that the God is still incarnate in the family of Maraba, and to the 
objection that the promise was only to seven generations, they an- 


* The God of prudence, an Idol painted with an Elephant’s Head. 


72 


swer, that, as the Deity was able to giant that favor to the seven im- 
mediate descendants of the holy Gosseyn, it would be. impious to 
doubt his power of continuing it to their posterity. The Deo’s 
palace is an enormous building without any kind of elegance, near 
the river Mootha, on which the town stands. As we entered the 
Court, we saw a number of persons engaged in the honorable and 
holy office of mixing the sacred Cow-dung to be spread on the 
floors. The whole palace looked dirt}', and every window was 
crowded with sleek well-fed Brahmins, who doubtless take great 
care of the Deo’s revenues. We found the little Deity seated in a 
mean veranda, on a wooden seat, not any way distinguished from 
other children, but by the wildness of the eyes, said to be occasioned 
by the quantity of opium which he is daily made to swallow. He is 
not allowed to play with other boys, nor is he permitted to speak 
any language but Sanscrit. He received us very politely — said he 
was always pleased to see English people, and after some conversa- 
tion which a Brahmin interpreted, wo took leave, and were present- 
ed by his divine hand with almonds and sugar-candy perfumed with 
assafeetida, and lie received in return a handful of rupees. From the 
palace we went to the tombs of the former Deos, which arc so many 
small temples inclosed in a well paved Court, planted round with 
trees, communicating with the river by a flight of steps. Here was 
' going on all the business of worship. In one place w r ere women 
pouring oil, water, and milk over the figures of the Gods ; in another, 
children decking them with flowers : here devotees and pilgrims 
performing their ablutions ; and there priests chaunting portions of the 
vedas. As I passed one of the tomb-temples I caught a glimpse of a 
large highly polished stone — which I suppose is the palladium of 
Chimchose, but I was desired not to approach it. I returned to our 
tents filled with reflections not very favorable to the dignity of hu- 
man nature, after witnessing such a degrading instance of superstitious 
folly.” 

(See Journal in India of Maria Graham.) 


The churning of the sea. 

The length of the follow ing account, ami the variety of mat- 
ter which it contains, seemed to render it unsuitable, to bo 
given in direct connection with the second incarnation of 
Vjshnoo. It is however too important a representation of 
Hindoo Mythology, — too useful a picture of the actions of the 


73 

Sods, to be omitted. It is given by Mr. "Wilkins, from the 
Makabarat, as follows : 

« There is a fair and stately mountain, and its name is Meroo, u 
moat exalted mass of glory, reflecting the sunny rays from the splen- 
did surface of its gilded horns. It is clothed in gold, and is the res- 
pected haunt of dt res and gandharvs. It is inconceivable, and not to 
be encompassed by sinful man ; and it is guarded by dreadful serpents. 
Many celestial medicinal plants adorn its sides ; and it stands, pierc- 
ing die heaven with its aspiring summit, a mighty hill, inacccsible 
even by tlie human miud. It is adorned with trees and pleasant 
streams, and resoundeth w ith the delightful songs of various birds. 

“ The roors and all the glorious host of heaven, having ascended 
to the summit of this lofty mountain, sparkling with precious gems, 
and for eternal ages raised, were sitting in solemn synod, meditating 
the discovery of the amreeta, the water of immortality. The dew 
JVarayan being also there, spoke unto Brahma, whilst the soors 
were thus consulting together, and said, ‘ let the ocean as a pot of 
milk, be churned by the united labor of the soors and asoors ; and 
when the mighty waters have been stirred up, the amreeta shall be 
found. Let them collect together every medicinal herb, and every 
precious thing, and let them stir the ocean, and they shall discover 
the amrecla. , 

“There is also another mighty moimtain, whose name U Mandar, 
and its rocky summits are like towering clouds. It is clothed in a 
net of the entangled tendrils of the twining creeper, and resoundeth 
with the harmony of various birds. Innumerable savage beasts in- 
fest its borders ; and it is the respected haunt of kennars, dews, and 
apsars. It standeth eleven thousand yojan * above the earth, and 
eleven thousand more below its surface. 

“ As tlie united bands of dues were unable to remove this moun- 
tain, they went before Veeshnoo, who was sitting with Brahma, and 
addressed them in these words: ‘Exert, O masters! your most 
superior wisdom to remove the mountain Mandar, and employ your 
utmost power for our good.’ 

“ Veeshnoo and Brahma having said, ‘ it shall be according to your 
wish,’ he with the lotus eye directed the king of serpents to appear ; 
and Jlnanta] arose, and was instructed in that w r ork by Brahma, and 
commanded by JVarayan to perform it. Then Ananla, by his pow- 
er, took up that king of mountains, together with all its forests, and 
every inhabitant thereof: and the soors accompanied him into the 
presence of the ocean, whom they addressed, saying, ‘ we will stir 


* Forty-four thousand miles, t Tlie endless ; a name of the many- 
headed serpent. 

10 


74 


up tliy Waters to obtain the amreela.' And the lord of the water* 
replied, 4 let me also have a share, seeing I am to bear the violent- 
agitation that will be caused by the whirling of the mountain !' 
Then the soors and asoors spoke unto Koorma-raj, the king of the 
tortoises, upon the strand of the ocean, and said, 4 my lord is able to 
be the supporter of this mountain.’ The tortoise replied, 4 be it 
so and it was placed upon his back. 

44 So the mountain being set upon the back of the tortoise. Eemlru 
began to whirl it about as it were a machine. The mountain Mun- 
drtr served as a churn, and the serpent Vasookee for the rope ; and 
thus in former days did the dews, the asoors, and the danoos, begin 
to stir up the waters of the ocean for the discovery of the amrecta. 

44 The mighty asoors were employed on the side of the serpent’s 
head, whilst all the soors assembled about his tail. Atlanta, that 
sovereign dew, stood near Narayan. 

44 They now pull forth the serpent’s head repeatedly, and as 
often let it go ; whilst there issued from his mouth, thus violently 
drawing to and fro by the soors and asoors, a continual stream of 
fire and smoke, and wind, which ascending in thick clouds, replete 
with lightning, it began to rain down upon the heavenly bands, who 
were already fatigued with their labor ; whilst a shower of flowers 
was shaken from the top of the mountain, covering the heads of all, 
both soors and asoors. In the mean time the roaring of the ocean, 
whilst violently agitated with the whirling of the mountain Mandat 
by the soors and asoors, was like the bellowing of a mighty cloud. 
Thousands of the various productions of the waters were torn to 
pieces by the mountain, and confounded with the briny flood ; and 
every specific being of the deep, and all the inhabitants of the 
great abyss which is below the earth, were annihilated; whilst, 
from the violent agitation of the mountain, the forest trees were 
dashed against each other, and precipitated from its utmost height, 
with all the birds thereon ; from whose violent confrication a raging 
fire. w r as produced, involving the whole mountain with smoke and 
(lame, as with a dark blue cloud, and the lightnings vivid flash. The 
lion and the retreating elephant are overtaken by the devouring 
flames, and every vital being, and every specific thing, are consum- 
ed in the general conflagration. 

“The raging flames, thus spreading destruction on all sides, were 
at length quenched by a shower of cloud borne wuiter, poured dow'n 
by the immortal Eendra. And now a heterogeneous stream of the 
concocted juices of various trees and plants ran down into the briny 
flood. 

44 It was from this milk-like stream of juices, produced from those 
trees and plants and a mixture of melted gold, that the soors obtain 
ed their immortality. 


75 


“ The waters of the ocean now being assimilated with those juices, 
were converted into milk, and from that milk a kind of butter 
was presently produced ; when the heavenly bands went again into 
tile presence of Brahma . the granter of boons, and addressed him, 
saying, ‘ Except Narayan, every other soor and asoor is fatigued 
with his labor, and still the amrccta doth not appear; wherefore the 
ehuming of the ocean is at a stand.’ Then Brahma said unto Na- 
rayan, ‘Endue them with recruited strength, for thou art their sup- 
port.’ And . Yarayan answered and said, ‘ I will give fresh vigor to 
such as co-operate in the work. Let Mandar be whirled about, 
and the bed of the ocean be kept steady.’ 

“ When they heard the words of Narayan, they all returned 
again to the work, and began to stir about with great force that but- 
ter of the ocean, when there presently arose from out the troubled 
deep, first the moon, with a pleasing countenance, shining with ten 
thousand beams of gentle light ; next followed Sree, the goddess of 
fortune, whose seat is the white lily of the waters ; then Soora-De- 
vee, the goddess of wine, and the white horse called Oochisrava. 
And after these there was produced from the unctuous mass the 
jewel Kowstoobh, that glorious sparkling gem worn by Narayan on 
his breast ; also Pareejat , the tree of plenty, and Soorabhee, the 
cow- that granteth every heart’s desire. 

“The moon, Soora-Devee, the goddess Sree, and the horse, as 
swift as thought, instantly marched away towards the deus, keeping 
in the path of the sun. 

“ Then the dew Dhanwantaree, in human shape, came forth, 
holding in his hand a white vessel filled w ith the immortal juice 
amreeta. When the asoors beheld these wondrous things appear, 
they raised their tumultuous voices for the amreeta, and each of 
them clamorously exclaimed, ‘ this of right is mine.’ 

“ In the mean time Travat, a mighty elephant, arose, now kept 
by the god of thunder : and as they- continued to chum the ocean 
more than enough, that deadly poison issued from its bed, burning 
like a raging fire, whose dreadful fumes in a moment spread through- 
out the world, confounding the three regions of the universe with 
the mortal stench, until Seev, at the word of Brahma, swallowed the 
fatal drug, to save mankind ; which, remaining in the throat of that 
.sovereign dew of magic form, from that time he hath been called 
. Yeel-Kant , because his throat was stained blue. 

“ When the asoors beheld this miraculous deed, they became des- 
perate, and the amreeta and the goddess Sree became the source of 
endless hatred. 

“ Then Narayan assumed the character and person of Moheenee 
Maya, the power of enchantment, in a female form of wonderful 
beauty, and stood before the asoors, whose mjnds being fascinated 


76 

by her presence, mid deprived of reason, they seize the amvceta, and 
gave it unto her. 

“The (tsoors now clothe themselves in costly armor, and, seizing 
their various weapons, rush on together to attack the aoors. In the 
mean time Narayan, in the female form, having obtained the am- 
reeta from the hands of their leader, the hosts Of soors, during the 
tumult and confusion of the asoors, drank of the living water. 

“ And it so fell out, that whilst the soors were quenching then 
thirst for immortality, Rahoo, an asoor, assumed the form of a soor, 
and began to drink also ; and the water had hut rea» tied his throat, 
when the sun and moon, in friendship to the soors, discovered the 
deceit ; and instantly Narayan cut off his head as he was drinking, 
with his splendid weapon chakra. And the gigantic head of the 
asoor, emblem of a mountain’s summit, being thus separated from 
his body by the chakra's edge, bounded into the hearens with a 
dreadful cry, whilst his ponderous trunk fell, cleaving the ground 
asunder, and shaking the whole earth unto its foundation, with all its 
islands, rocks, and forests ; and from that time the head of Rahoo 
resolved an eternal enmity, and continueth, even unto this day, at 
times to seize upon the sun and moon.* 

“Now Narayan, having quitted the female figure he had assumed, 
began to disturb the asoors with sundry celestial- weapons ; and from 
that instant a dreadful battle was commenced, on the ocean’s briny 
strand, between the asoors and the soors. Innumerable sharp and 
missile weapons were hurled, and thousands of piercing darts and 
battle-axes fell on all sides. The asoors vomit blood from the 
wounds of the chakra , and fall upon the ground pierced by the sword, 
the spear, and spiked club. Heads, glittering with polished gold, 
divided by the polices' blade, drop incessantly ; and mangled bodies, 

* The cause of eclipses. It is not however to he supposed that 
the learned in India have no acquaintance with Astronomy. They 
do not agree with the people at large in believing the fables of the 
Poets. “ The Pauranics, i. e. poetical fabulists, will tell you, (said 
a venerable mathematician to Sir Wm. Jones.) that our earth is a 
plane figure, studded with eight mountains, and surrounded by sev- 
en seas of milk, nectar, and other fluids ; that the part which we in- 
habit, is one of seven islands, to which eleven smaller isles are subor- 
dinate ; that a god, riding on a huge elephant, guards each of 'he 
eight regions, and that a mountain of gold rises and gleams in the 
centre ; but ice believe the earth to be shaped like a Cadamha fruit, 
or spheroidical, and admit only four oceans of salt water, all which 
we name from the four cardinal points, and in which are ninny great 
peninsulas with innumerable islands: they will tell you, that a dra- 
gon’s head swallows the moon, and thus causes an eclipse ; hut irr 
know, that the supposed head and tail of the dragon, mean only the 
pode.s, or points formed by the intersections of the ecliptic and the 
moon’s orbit.” See Jones, on the antiquity of the Indian Zodiac. 


wallowing in their gore, lay like fragments «f mighty rorks, 'sparkling 
with gems and precious ores. Millions of sighs and groans arise ou 
every side ; and the sun is overcast with blood, as they ciash their 
arms, and wound each other w ilh their dreadful instruments of de- 
struction. 

“ Now the battle is fought with the iron-spiked club, and, as they 
close, with clenched fist ; and the din of war asccndcth to the heav- 
ens. They cry ‘pursue! strike! fell to the ground !’ so that a hor- 
rid and tumultuous noise is heard on all sides. 

“ in the midst of this dreadful hurry and confusion of the fight, 
.Wan and .Warayan ontered the field together. JWarpyan, beholding 
a celestial bow in the hand of Aar, it reminded him of his chakra, 
the destroyer of the asoors. The faithful weapon, by name soodnr- 
sun, ready at the mind’s call, flew down from heaven with direct and 
t£ fit! gent speed, beautiful, yet terrible to behold : and being arrived, 
glowing like the sacrificial flame, and spreading terror around, An- 
rayan, with his right arm formed like the elephantine trunk, 1 1 titled 
forth the ponderous orb, the speedy messenger and glorious ruin of 
hostile towns ; who, raging like the final ali- destroying fire, shot 
bounding with desolating force, kilting thousands of the asoors in his 
rapid flight, bunting and involving, like the lambent flame, rind flit- 
ting down all that would oppose him. Anon he climbeth the heavens, 
and now again darteth into the ficid like a peesach ,* to feast in blood. 

“Now the dauntless asoors strive, with repeated strength to 
crush the soors with rock and mountains, which, hurled in vast 
numbers into the heavens, appeared like scattered clouds, and fell, 
with all the trees thereon, in millions of fear-exciting torrents, strik- 
ing violently against each other with a mighty noise ; and in their 
fall the earth, with all its fields and forests, is driven from its foun- 
dation ; they thunder furiously at each other as they roli along the 
field, aud spend their strength in mutual conflict. 

“ Now JVar, seeing the soors overwhelmed with fear, filled up the 
path to heaven with showers of golden-headed arrows, and split the 
mountain summits with his unerring shafts ; and the asoors finding 
themselves again sore pressed by the soors, precipitately flee ; some 
rush headlong into the briny waters of the ocean, and others hide 
themselves within the bowels of the earth. 

“ The rage of the glorious chakra, Soodarsan, which for a while 
burnt like the oil-fed fire, now grew cool, and he retired into the 
heavens from whence he came. And the soors having obtained the 
victorj', the mountain Mandar was carried back to its former station 
with great respect, whilst the waters also retired, filling the firma- 
ment and the heavens with their dreadful roarings. 

] Nar seems to have been the prince of Asoors. * 

* A spectre. 


78 


“The soors guarded 1 V nmreeta with great carp, and rejoiced ex- 
ceedingly because of their success. And Eendra, with all his im- 
mortal bands, gave the water of life unto JVarayan, to keep it for 
their use.” 


Minor Deities. 

Garuda, who lay confined for five hundred years, within the 
shell of hisiegg, eventually obtained so much power as to be 
able to procure the amreeta, or drink of immortality, by which 
he delivered his mother from slavery. She had become a 
slave, in consequence of losing a wager, with the other wife of 
her husband, about the color of a horse. 

Hanumunt is held in high veneration by the Hindoos. His 
conception was preternatural, and hence his claim to be con- 
sidered as an incarnation. Ilis temples are very common in 
Bombay. Sir William Jones observes, that “ the large breed 
of Indian apes is still held in high veneration by the Hindoos, 
and fed with devotion by the Brahmins, who seem in two or 
three places on the banks of the Ganges, to have a regular en- 
dowment for the support of them.” 

Gunputtee is represented with an elephant’s head, and 
mounted on a rat. In the temples, he is placed on a pedestal 
with his legs crossed. An image of a rat is always placed be- 
fore the door. “ This rat was a giant, called Gudja-mojtga- 
chourin, on whom the gods had bestowed immortality, as well 
as great powers, which he abused, and did much harm to man- 
kind. — Entreated by the sages and penitents to deliver them, 
he pulled out one of his tusks, and threw it at Gudja-mouga- 
chourin : the tooth entered the giant’s stomach, and overthrew 
him, who immediately changed himself into a rat, as large as a 
mountain, and came to attack Gunputtee, who sprung upon 
his back, telling him, that hereafter he should ever be his car- 
rier.” The temples of this deity, (so far as my observation 
has extended.) are more common than those of any other dei- 
ty ; and he receives a more universal reverence. “ All sacri- 
fices and religious ceremonies, (says Sir William Jones,) all 
addresses even to superior gods, all serious compositions in 


79 


writing, and all worldly affairs of moment ; are begun by pious 
Hindus, with an invocation of Ganesa, (i. e. Gunputtee.)” 
The account of minor deities might be easily enlarged, but 
it appears to me that enough has been sa:d to give the reader a 
tolerable view of the extravagance and folly ot Hindoo My- 
thology. 


(II.) 


The moral character of the gods. 

The moral character of the gods has necessarily appeared in 
a considerable degree, in those legends which have been al- 
ready given. One or two further illustrations only, will there- 
fore now be necessary. 

The tricks of Krishna were innumerable. His mother, and 
the people of his village were herd’s people, and lived by their 
dairies. Krishna, daily employed his wisdom and power, in 
stealing butter and cream. He led his companions into the 
same courses, and would frequently make them abettors of the 
mischief without sharing its gains. The popular stories repre- 
sent him as extremely indelicate and incontinent. These sto- 
ries would be utterly unsuitable to be recorded here, but they 
greatly amuse the Hindoos in their assemblies, where males 
and females promiscuously meet together. 

The following account of Mahadeva and Parvati, is given by 
Wilford, in the Asiatic Researches : 


“ Mahadeva and Parvati, were playing with dice, at the ancient 
game of Chaturanga, when they disputed and parted in wrath ; the 
goddess retiring to the forest of Gauri, and the god repairing to 
Cuskadwip. They severally performed rigid acts of devotion to 
the Supreme Being ; but the fires which they kindled blazed so ve- 
hemently, as to threaten a general conflagration. The devas, in 
great alarm, hastened to Brahma, who led them to Mahadeva, and 
supplicated him to recall his consort ; but (he wrathful deity only 


80 


answered, that she must come by her own free choice. They ac 
cordingly dispatched Ganga, the river goddess, who prevailed on 
Parvati to return to him, on condition that his love for her should be 
restored. The celestial mediators then employed Cama-deva,* 
who wounded Mahadeva with one of his flowery arrows; but the 
angry divinity reduced him to ashes with a flame from his eye. 
Parvati soon after presented herself before him in the form of a 
cirati, or daughter of a mountaineer, and, seeing him enamoured of 
her, resumed her own shape. In the place where they were recon- 
ciled, a grove sprang up, which was named Camavana ; and the re- 
lenting god, in the character of Cameswara, consoled the alliicted 
Rcti, the widow of Cama, by assuring her that she should rejoin 
her husband, when he should be born again in the form ofPrad- 
yumna, son of Krishna, and should put Sainbara to death. This 
favorable prediction was in due time accomplished, and Pradynmna 
having sprung to life, he was instantly seized by the demon Samba- 
re, who placed him in a chest, which he threw into the ocean ; but 
a large fish, which had swallowed the chest, was caught in a net, 
and carried to the palace of a tyrant, where the unfortunate Reti 
had been compelled to do menial service. It was her lot to open 
Ihe fish, and seeing an infant in the chest, she nursed him in private, 
and educated him, till he had sufficient strength to destroy the ma- 
lignant Sambara. lie had before considered Rcti as his mother : 
but the minds of them both being irradiated, the prophecy of Maha 
deva was remembered, and the god of love, was again united with 
Ihe goddess of pleasure.” 


(!■) 


The worship of the Hindoos. 

The temples, as is suggested in the sermon, arc the Jiubita- 
tions of the gods, and not places of accommodation for assem- 
bled worshippers. Some of them are large and high, with a 
dome and spire, but the apartments of the gods arc small. 
Many of the temples which I have seen, are low buildings, 


* Thf god of love. 


81 


having several apartments for different gods. These apad- 
ments admit no light except by the door, through which in 
passing the temples, the diflerent deities may be seen enshrin- 
ed, and glittering with gilded ornaments. There is consider- 
able variety in the size of the apartments, which, generally, 
ure so small, as to be capable of admitting, hardly a dozen 
people at a time. Little temples, for one deity only, are com- 
mon, and are scattered over town and country ; but in the 
principal places of resort, there are generally a number, and 
all the temples are painted on the outside with an immense 
variety of figures, exhibiting to the eye the wild fables of Hin- 
doo mythology. 

Many of the worshippers perform their service before the 
door, standing in the vestibule. They carefully fix their eyes 
upon the god to whose presence they have come, mutter, indis- 
tinctly, a few words, salute the image by bringing both hands' 
to the forehead ; bow the head, slowly and solemnly, turn 
around, ring the bell, and retire. I have often stood in front 
of the temple of the goddess of Bombay, (for I could by no 
means be suffered to enter it,) and seen these acts of worship. 
And I have observed the proceedings of those devouter ones, 
who enter into the temple itself. I have observed them, as 
they entered, bringing their hands to their foreheads, and bow- 
ing to her very feet ; touching themselves, apparently, with 
some sacred water, and then joining those, who w ere circum- 
ambulating the goddess, making a continual, and unbroken cir- 
cle. At ten o’clock in the morning, I have observed her strip- 
ped of her ornaments, (as well as her neighbor deities,) and 
the Brahmins and Brahminees, washing and purifying her, to 
be again apparelled and adorned for the worship of her delud- 
ed votaries. I should have noticed the offerings of flowers 
which are daily presented to her, and how her neck is over- 
hung, with a multitude of odoriferous necklaces. 

The same ceremonies of worship are performed at the other 
temples. As the worshippers retire, they pay their tribute to 
the Brahmins attendant at the temples ; who sit in the vesti- 
bule on each side of the door, and receive a few kernels of rice 
from the several worshippers in succession. These collgc 1 
* 11 


i 

iious, and the offerings to the gods, furnish their daily liveli- 
hood. 

Besides the ordinary daily worship, which has been describ- 
ed, there is a noisy service performed iu the morning and eve- 
ning, by companies of singers, who unite their voices with the 
discordant clangor of cymbals. Iu the singing on these occa- 
sions, the voice is carried to its utmost stretch, and the coun- 
tenance violently distorted, partly, as the natural consequence, 
and partly, as an affectation of earnestness. To please the 
gods, and not to harmonize the feelings in their worship, seems 
to be the object of this act of service. The choir of musicians 
are generally a solitary company, all whose senses, one would 
imagine, must be stunned by their own noise. 

It is usual for the Hindoos to keep in their own houses, 
small images, and even smooth stones brought from sacred 
places. These they worship at home, besides the ordinary 
visible worship which has been already described. It is com- 
mon to observe them using forms of salutation, and repeating 
praises while washing in the morning. Before eating, they 
wash their bodies as an act of religious purification, and in con- 
nection with religious worship. 

A very considerable part of the service which the Hindoos 
pay their gods, is the fulfilment of vows. To making these, in 
great varieties, they are exceedingly addicted, not only to pro- 
cure the removal of great evils, to avert great dangers, and 
procure important favors, but on very slight occasions. The 
circumambulation of the gods, which has been mentioned is 
not only a part of the ordinary daily service but is often per- 
formed in consequence of a vow. The votary determines die 
number of circumvolutions, I suppose, by the degree of influ- 
ence over the gods, which the case seeinsto require. 

The religious fig-tree, “with heart-shaped, pointed, and 
tremulous leaves/’ is highly venerated by the Hindoos, as 
sacred to Vishnoo, and is worshipped in the manner which has 
now been described. This tree I have observed at different 
temples, but there is a very large and aged one at a temple in 
tlie centre of Bombay, which is more particularly venerated 
and worshipped. It is walled around, ami a flagged footwalk 
is prepared lor the accommodation of the worshippers. Images 


S3 


of clay are placed around the body of the tree. To this tree 
numbers of the natives daily resort, to fulfil their vows, which 
can be done in many cases only hy stone hundreds of revolu- 
tions. I have generally observed, when I have visited tiro 
place early in the morning, twenty persons or more, following 
each other around the tree, muttering as they went, and 
throwing upon it their little offerings of rice and flowers, till 
the roots of the tree became literally covered. The Asceticks 
would sometimes come and toss in leaves between the wor- 
shippers, upon the images of tho gods. 

There is a religious service (which I have observed very fre- 
quently) common, I believe, principally, among the lower clas- 
ses, in fulfilment of a vow. It is denominated hy a name, which 
denotes the complete prostration of every part of the body, and 
seems to be an acknowledgment of an entire surrender. A 
curtain is held over tire head of the votary, by four persons, 
each supporting a corner. An offering of cocoa-nats, fruits, 
and flowers, and a band of noisy instruments attend him. 
Thus attended, he measures his way towards the temple of the 
god he serves, by repeatedly prostrating his body. At each 
prostration the procession stands, and the musicians strike up 
a louder tone, while the votary lays his body in the dust. In 
the busiest hours of the day, and in the most public streets, 
these processions are continually passing, and filling the streets 
with a perpetual din. 

The Pilgrimages which the Hindoos undertake, often, though 
not always, are undertaken in consequence of vows. An in- 
stance occurs to me, of a poor man of my acquaintance, who 
took an expensive journey with his wife and infant son, to the 
place whence his family originated, that he might there offer 
to the family god, the hair of his son’s head, agreeably to a 
vow which preceded his birth. It is very common to hear, of 
a person that has been ill, that he has gone on a pilgrimage, 
and there are holy places in every section of country, as well 
as those which are visited hy all the inhabitants of Hindostan, 
to which, as occasion requires, the people are continually flock- 
ing, in fulfilment of vows. Ramisseram, an Island betweea 
Ceylon and the continent, — the famous Juggernaut in Orissa, 
— the Island of Sauger at the month of the Ganges^ — that 


84 , 


sacred river itself, and the city of Benares, are all well known 
places of resort. A place called Nasheek, about one hundred 
miles from Bombay, is much frequented by the natives there, 
in the month of September. 

A very important branch of the worship of the Hindoos, and 
one in which all classes endeavor to honor the gods, is that of 
making pilgrimages, on stated days, to particular temples, to 
holy places, and for the performance of periodical worship. 
Thus on one occasion the whole population, must go on a pil- 
grimage (for thus the word they use, is usually translated) to 
IValokeeshwur, more than two miles from the town of Bombay, 
a sacred tank, surrounded by temples, and houses of charity, 
for the accommodation of mendicants, devotees, and all sorts 
of religious persons, whom the sacredness of the place collects, 
together.— -On another, three miles in another direction, to 
Maha Lacshmi , to the temple of the great Lacshmi, the wife 
of Vishnoo who has been already described. On another, they 
must throng the court of Bombay davee, bearing in tiieir hands 
corn stalks, and boughs, passing in rapid succession through 
the temples, ringing bells, and making a bustle of their very 
adorations, and paying their worship as to a god, to a tree sac- 
red to Mahadeva, the worship of which ensures victory for the 
year. 

JYarl Poojahf or Cocoanut day, which is on the full moon in 
the month of August, near the close of the tempestuous season, 
is one of the most remarkable of these pilgrimages. Between 
the fort of Bombay and the native town, is a large plain, which 
extends across the Island to the sea on either side. On the 
Eastern side at the distance of a few miles appears the conti- 
nent ; the Western opens to a bay, and presents as the view is 
extended, the wide expanded sea. The shore, is here, gently 
sloping, and is left bare for many a rod by the ebbing tide. 
Towards the Northern extremity of the plain, are the soldiers’ 
lines, and a little farther on, the place of burning the dead, 
which is continually smoking with the funeral pile. Here I 
have seen assembled perhaps an hundred thousand people, up 
on the western shore, to perform the appropriate duties of this 
anniversary, which are to make an offering of Cocoanut9 to the 
sea. For some hours the plain is covered and the people form 


a continual procession down the sloping shore, till their bodies 
arc half immersed in water. A prayer is then ottered up, and 
the worshippers as they successively arrive, toss into the sea a 
Cocoanut with a bunch of sprigs and flowers. Thousands are 
ottered in the course of the day, after which the sea, which has 
been now raging with storms and billows for twelve weeks, is 
expected to be quiet, and the Hindoos confidently commit their 
property and their vessels to her bosom. I have been told that 
this holiday is sacred to Tar asu- llama, who by bis merits and 
arrow procured the recession of the sea from the low lands on 
the western side of India. This holiday, as its reported origin 
would indicate, is peculiar to the western part of India. 

The ceremonies of the huli holidays about the month of 
April, secin to be designed for the worship of an evil being. 
These ceremonies, it is impossible to describe in any decent 
manner. Let it be sufficient to observe, that for a fortnight, is 
the season of noise, riot, ribaldry and indecent action, and 
that men, women, and children, venerable old men, learned 
philosophers, the best members of Hindoo Society, engage 
in them publicly, apparently, under the full conviction that 
they are indispensable to the favor of the gods. 


(K.) 

The influence of religious austerities. 

The following extracts will illustrate the views of the Hin- 
doos on this subject. Though the accounts they give are fab- 
ulous, they furnish, none the less, an exhibition of the general 
views of the Hindoos at the present time, on the mode of obtain- 
ing the favor of the gods. 

“ The pious, the royal sage, Bhugee-rutha, O son of Rughoo ! 
was childless. Desirous of offspring, yet childless, the great mon- 
arch entrusted the kingdom to the care of his counsellors, and, hav- 
ing his heart set on obtaining the descent of Gunga, (the Ganges,) 


86 


engaged in a long course of sacred austerities upon the mountain 
Gokurna. With hands erected, he, O son of ltughoo! surrounded 
in the hot season with live fires,* according to the prescribed ordin- 
ance ; iu tire cold season lying in water ; and in the rainy season ex- 
posed to the descending clouds, feeding on fallen leaves, with his 
mind restrained, and his sensual feelings subdued, this valiant and 
great king continued a thousand years in the practice of the most 
severe austerities. The magnanimous monarch of mighty arm, hav- 
ing finished this period, the divine Brumha, the lord of creatures, the 
supreme governor, was highly pleased : and with the gods, going 
near to the great Bhugee-rutha, employed in sacred austerities, said 
to him, I am propitious. O performer of sacred vows ! ask a bles- 
sing. The mighty, the illustrious Bhugee-rutha, with hands re- 
spectfully joined, replied to the sire of all, O divine one ! if thou art 
pleased w ith me, if the fruit of my austerities may be granted, let 
ail the sons of Sugura^ obtain water for their funeral rites. The 
ashes of the great ones being wetted by the water of Guuga, let all 
my ancestors ascend to the eternal heavens, f Let a child, O divine 
one ! be granted to us, that our family become not extinct. O god! 
let this great blessing be granted to the family of Ikshwakoo. The 
venerable sire of all, replied to the king thus requesting, in the 
sweetest and most pleasing accents: Bhugee-rulha, thou mighty 
charioteer, be this great wish of thine heart accomplished. Engage 
Hu raj O king ! to receive (in her descent) Gunga, the eldest daugh- 
ter of the mountain Himuvut.” 

The effort made by Bhugec-rutha to induce Seeva to receive 
Gunga is thus described. 

“ Pruja-puti being gone, Bhugee-rutha, O Rama ! with uplifted 
arm, without support, without a helper, immoveable as a dry tree, 
and feeding on air, remained day and night on the tip of his great 
toe, upon the alflicted earth. A full year having now elapsed the 
husband of ()oma,j and the lord of animals, who is reverenced by 
all worlds, said to the king 1 am propitious to thee, O chief of men ! 
1 will accomplish thy utmost desire. To him the sovereign replied, 
O Hura, receive Gunga. BhurgaJ thus addressed, replied, 1 will 
perform thy desire.; I will receive heron my head, '.the daughter of 
Ihc mountain. Muheshwura then, mounting on the summit of Hi- 
muvut, addressed Gunga, the river flowing in the ether, saying de- 
scend O Gunga !”H 

*“ One towards each of the cardinal points, and the sun over hi; 
head, towards which lie was constantly looking.” 

Relatives of Bhugee-rutha. 

t “The heaven from which there can be no fall.” J Seeva. 

'It See the Ramayuna, translated by Drs. Carey and Marshmgir 


8 1 

Gunga descended iu anger, expecting to bear down Seevu. 
The god received her unhurt, and would not allow her to de- 
scend to the earth, till Bhugec-rutha had again performed aus- 
terities : when Seeva became again propitious and Gunga flow- 
ed forth to water the earth, to gratify the desires of king Bhu- 
gee-rutha, and to become a water of ablution to mankind. 

The following detail of austerities with malignant intention, 
and of their dire effects, is cited by Maurice from the Seem 
Pooraun. 

“ In the wood Midhoo, which is on the confines of the kingdom of 
Brege, Tarakee selected a pleasant and beautiful spot, adorned with 
verdure and blossoms, and there exerted himself in penance and 
mortification, externally, with the sincercst piety, but, in reality, tliu 
most malignant intention, and with the determined purpose of op- 
pressing the devetas; penances such as credulity was Astonished to 
hear ; and they arc here recounted. 

1. For a hundred years, he held up his arms and one foot towards 
heaven, and fixed his eyes upon the sun the whole time. 

2. For a hundred years, he remained standing on tiptoe. 

3. Fora hundred years more, he nourished himself with nothing 
but water. 

4. For a hundred years more, he lived upon nothing but air. 

5. For a hundred years more, he stood and made his adorations 
in the river. 

6. For a hundred years more, lie made those adorations buried up 
to his neck in the earth. 

7. For a hundred years more, enveloped with fire. 

3. Fora hundred years more, he stood upon hi3 head with his 
feet towards heaven. 

9. Fora hundred years more, he stood upon the palm of one 
hand resting on the ground. 

10. Fora hunched years more, he hung by his band from the 
branch of a tree. 

11. For a hunch ed years more, he hung from a tree with his head 
downwards. 

When he at length came to a respite from these severe mortifica- 
tions, a radiant glory encircled the devotee, and a flame of fire arising 
from his head, began to consume the whole world.” 

The following whimsical illustration of the power which evil 
beings may obtain over the gods, is given by Moore in his 
{t Hindu Pantheon,” p. 333. 


83 


“ Havana, by his power and infernal arts, had subjugated all the 
gods and demigods, and forced them to perform menial offices about 
his person and household. Indra, made garlands of flowers to adorn 
him withal ; Agni (fire) was his cook. Surya (the sun) supplied 
light by day, and Chandra (the mOon) by night ; Vanina purveyed 
water for the palace ; Kuvera furnished cash. The whole navagrahd 
(the nine planetary spheres) sometimes arranged themselves into a 
ladder, by which they serving as steps, the tyrant ascended his 
throne ; Brahma (for the great gods were there also ; and I give this 
anecdote as I find it in my memoranda, without any improved ar- 
rangement) — Brahma was a herald, proclaiming the giants titles, the 
day of the week, month, k.c. daily in the palace, — a sort of speaking 
almanac : Mahadeva (i. e. Seeva) in his avantara (incarnation) of 
Kandeh-roo, performed the office of barber, and trimmed the giant’s 
beards ; Vishnu had the honorable occupation of instructing and 
drilling the dancing and singing girls, and selecting the fairest for the 
royal bed : Gantsa had the care of the cows, goats, and herds ; Vayu 
swept the house ; Yaina washed the linen ; — and in this manner 
were all the gods employed in the menial offices of Ravana, who re- 
buked and flogged them in default of industry and attention. Nor 
were the female divinities exempted : for Bhavani, in her name and 
form of Satni, was head aya, or nurse, to Ravana’s children ; Lakshmi 
and Sereswati were also among them, but it does not appear in what 
capacity.” 

The following extracts from Wilks’ historical sketches ol 
the South of India,* will finish the illustrations of the present 
subject. 

“ A Rachas, or giant, named Vrica, and iu after timc3, Bustn-Asoor, 
or the giant of the ashes, had by a course of devotion to Mahadco 
(Seeva) obtained from him the promise of whatever boon he should 
ask. The rachas accordingly demanded, that every person on 
whose head he should place his right hand, might instantly be re- 
duced to ashes ; and Mahadco conferred the boon, without suspicion 
of the purpose for which it was designed. 

The rachas no sooner found himself possessed of this formidable 
power, than he attempted to use it for the destruction of his bene- 
factor. Mahadco fled, the rachas pursued, and followed the fugitive 
so closely as to chase him into a thick grave ; where Mahadco. 
changing his form and bulk, concealed himself in the centre of a 
fruit, then called tunda pundoo. 

The rachas having lost sight of Mahadco, enquired of a husband 


* See page 442. 


as 


Man, who was working in the adjoining field, whether he had seen 
the fugitive, and what direction he had taken. The husbandman 
who had attentively observed the whole transaction, fearful of the 
future resentment of Mahadeo, and equally alarmed for the present 
vengeance of the giant, answ'ered aloud, that he had seen no fugitive, 
but pointed, at the same time, with the little finger of his right hand, 
to the place of Mahadeo’s concealment. 

In this extremity, Vishnoo descended, in the form of a beautiful 
damsel, to the rescue of Mahadeo. The raciias became instantly 
enamoured. The damsel enjoined the performance of his ablu- 
tions in a neighboring pool. After these were finished, she pre- 
scribed, as a farther purification, the performance of the Sundia , — 
a ceremony in which the right hand is successively applied to th& 
breast, to the crown of the head, and to other parts of the body. The 
rachas, forgetful of the powers of his right hand, performed the sun ■ 
dta, and was himself reduced to ashes.” 

The religious austerities, now commonly practised by the 
Hindoos, cannot exactly resemble, either in their mode, or con* 
sequences, those which have been now described. They con- 
form to them, however, in their general character, and are sup- 
posed to give the devotee an influence with the gods, both on 
his own behalf and the behalf of others. 


CL.) 

The reverence paid to the objects of nature , and living crea- 
tures. 

The Hindoos, of all sexes and ages, leave their houses im- 
mediately after sunset, on the evening when the new moon is 
first visible, to pay her reverence. Every eye is directed to- 
wards that part of the heavens in which they expect her to ap- 
pear, and they watch in silent expectation, till the twilight has 
become sufficiently dim to render her visible. As soon as they 
see her, they bring their hands to their heads, and bowing, 


90 


address her according to the usual form of salutation, which I 
know not how better to translate, than by “ Ilow do you do, 
Ma’atn.” 

Every cow is sacred. The usual forms of salutation are 
frequently made to them. Cow-dung is abundantly used in 
purifying the floors of houses, and seems to be considered as 
indispensable in removing deflements. One method of taking 
oaths, is by holding cow-dung in the hand. The murder of 
cows is always mentioned, and that early, in the list of crimes. 
The salvation of herds, is mentioned as one of the moving 
causes, in the principal incarnations of the gods. 

To eat cow’s flesh, would be a crime not to be expiated, and 
the very thought of it seems dreadful to a Hindoo. A servant 
by all means avoids being accessory to the crime of which his 
master is guilty, in eating beef, or veal, and will not so much 
as touch the plate on which those viands are laid. In teaching 
a school composed principally of Hindoo boys, I prepared an 
English phrase in praise of veal, among many others, for my pu- 
pils to commit to memory. When I proposed it to them, ta 
repeat after me, I found they were all pan ick -struck, and that 
not one of them would open his mouth, to utter so horrid a sen- 
timent. I have been credibly informed, that all the beef which 
is used by the English force stationed at Poonah, is killed 
eighty miles distant at Seroor. The Raja cannot admit the 
criminal slaughter to take place any nearer. 

The sacred bulls, wander over all the streets, exceeding 
plump and fat, having an allowed right to feed at all the stalls, 
and constantly receiving portions from the liberal and religious. 

The worship of the fabled serpent is annually on the fifth 
day of the new moon, in the month of August. One of the 
causes, to which the appointment of this anniversary is attri- 
buted, is as follows : — When Krishna was a boy, a9 lie was 
playing, his ball fell into a pond. As be was searching for it 
at the bottom, he came to the house of Kalya, a serpent, and a 
god of destruction. The wives of Kalya threatened Krishna 
with the vengeance of tiieir lord : upon which lie put a rope in 
his nose, and dragged him out to dry land. His wives inter- 
ceded in his behalf, and Krishna consented to release him. At 
that time Kalya, begged of Krishna the privilege of being wor- 


shipped one day in tlie year, his request was granted, and in 
consequence he receives the services of the present anniver- 
sary. 

In the suburbs of Bombay, on a rocky situation, there is a 
small cavern, resembling, but considerably larger than, an 
oven. At the extremity, there is a small cavity, at which, it 
is storied, the serpent used annually to appear, to receive the 
worship of mankind. Many profess to believe that lie does so 
still, but others say, that since the unclean Mahometans have 
begun to inhabit that quarter, the place has become so polluted, 
that lie no longer condescends to gratify the wishes of his vota- 
ries. The people however, frequent the spot, and pay their 
offerings, as sedulously, as though he were miraculously to 
manifest himself, with some tokens of divine claim to worship. 
I attended there, very early in the morning on the day of an- 
nual pilgrimage to that spot, and saw the people casting parch- 
ed rice, milk and money about the cavern, and placing them 
in the aperture, where he is said to make his appearance. In 
the afternoon, an immense concourse was collected on the 
spot. Tamed serpents were brought in great numbers, and 
received in rich abundance the offerings of the people. 


(M.) 


Religions Devotees. 

Religious devotees are the uniform appendages of all the 
principal temples. Those with whom I have met at Bombay 
were not generally natives of that Island, but strangers from 
different parts of India, who arrived there from time to time on 
temporary visits, such as according to their manner of life, they 
pay, as a means of increasing sanctity, to one holy place after 
another. Their prominent, general characteristics, are, those 
disgusting consequences of entire neglect, which are mention- 
ed in the sermon ; while there is a variety in the particnlaf 


92 


courses which they pursue. In one place, maybe seen, ama& 
sitting upon the floor within the vestibule of the temple, labo- 
riously bending his body backward and forward, repeating the 
names of the gods and panting for breath, as if he were unwilling 
to occupy his time in breathing: — in another, a man standing — I 
had almost said in a clock-case with a little roof over his head, to 
protect him from the weather, reading the vedas : — in another, 
leaning upon the branch of a tree, a man who has vowed never 
to sit down, and, not to swell this article unnecessarily, every 
where, more marks of filth, and more preparation to disgust all 
love of decency, and all modesty, than it is possible for any 
but an eye witness to conceive, and more than I am anxious to 
describe. 

It is well known that many of the religious devotees among 
the Hindoos, practice the most severe austerities. The sever- 
est which I have witnessed, and that only in two or three in- 
stances, is, the elevating of the arm, and suffering the joint to 
indurate and the arm to perish, in that position, one of which 
cases is mentioned in the sermon. 

The number of religious devotees, compared with the bulk 
of the people, is small, and did we consider their practices and 
habits, only, as bearing testimony, to the delusion and dark- 
ness of their own minds, the existence of this class of people, 
would be to be deplored, but not to be considered as stamping 
upon the people at large the most degraded character. The 
truth is that the people, universally, venerate them, as eminent 
ly holy, and supplicate them, in the belief, that they have such 
power with the gods, as to be able greatly to assist them in 
their wants and difficulties. 

Being engaged, solely, in devotion, they live upon the labors 
of others, and daily levy their contributions upon the people. 
In my morning walks, 1 used always to see a great many of 
these people, fat, lazy, dirty and covered with ashes, taking 
their daily rounds. They run fast singing as they go. They 
carry upon their arms a little bag to receive the alms of the 
people, and as they run, stop at every door, uttering as the 
signal of their arrival a peculiar yell, and then stand singing 
the praises of the gods. At the well kAown signal, the womcj\ 


$3 


c,oioe to the door, with a little rice or flour in their hands and 
pour it into the bag of the saint, who having given his blessing, 
immediately runs again and as soon as he reaches another door 
again sets up his yell, and with the same success. 


The view which has been given of the idolatry of the Hin- 
doos, is, by no means, calculated to damp the ardor of the zeal- 
pus, or discourage the hopes of the believing. The case of the 
Hindoos, presents one of the multifarious forms of human de- 
pravity 5 a depravity which in every form baffles the unaided 
labors of man, but is effectually subdued by the power of the 
gospel in the hearts of all believers. The grand obstacle to 
^heir conversion, is not the form of their depravity, by which 
they differ from others ; but its substance, by which they a- 
gree with the great family of mankind. Whoever labors for 
the conversion of men, in any country, will find the principal 
difficulty to be, in awakening the conscience, and convincing 
of sin. In every country are to be found the same general 
features of character, and, similar excuses to palliate guilt 
and quiet the conscience. The reader will perhaps anti- 
cipate me, in comparing, what the Hindoos say in their own 
justification of the sinful nature of the present age, of the re- 
sistless rule of the senses and of matter, and of the appoint- 
ment of heaven, to some of the excuses which are so common 
in a country highly favored as our own. 

Let the Holy Spirit convince the Hindoo of sin, and the 
charm of idolatry will dissolve. He will find the services, and 
penances of his religion insufficient to relieve his mind; and 
he will anxiously ask, “ What must I do to be saved ?” Then 
will he receive as “glad tidings of great joy” the message 
which the gospel brings to every convinced and desponding 
soul, “ Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 
slaved.” Were the office of the Missionary to be fulfilled, by 
turning the Heathen from one formality to another, by his own 


94 


efforts alone, he might well despair when he sees the strength 
of their attachment to the religion of their ancestors. Hut 
feeling as he must, that lie has done nothing, until he has ef- 
fected a radical change, he must necessarily be driven from all 
self-confidence, to that reliance upon an Almighty arm, which 
will enable him to hope even against hope amidst the most 
idolatrous people on earth. He will remember, that the w ell 
watered places of a Christian land are desolate and barren, till 
the power of God is upon them, to revive and to restore ; and 
will learn to labor among the heathen in the joyous hope, that 
by the same power, even the desert shall become a fruitful 
field. 

In conclusion then, Christian Brethren, partakers of the 
lieavenlv calling, — the Hindoos, — aliens from the common- 
wealth of Israel, and strangers from those covenants of prom- 
ise, which are the stability of our joy and confidence, — claim 
to be brought nigh by the blood of Christ.” They claim to 
be made fellow-heirs of our pi ivileges as Christians, they claim 
to be admitted to the fellowship of the gospel. 

The design of the gospel, so far as its glory shall appear on 
earth, (and on earth its glory shall be great,) is, to unite man- 
kind at large, in one great brotherhood, by the faith of one 
infinite Redeemer, and in the service of God their maker. In 
its offers, there is “ neither Greek, nor Jew, Barbarian, Scythi- 
an, bond, nor free.” The “ unsearchable riches of Christ,” 
are the gift of heaven to no particular people, but have been 
preached, and must be preached among the Geutiles, — “ to 
make all men see w hat is the fellowship of the mystery, which 
from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who 
created all things by Jesus Christ : to the intent, that now, 
unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might 
he known by the church the - manifold wisdom of God, accor- 
ding to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus 
our Lord.” It is the design of God, that a mystery, concealed 
by the nature and design of the Jewish dispensation, should be 
progressively, and gloriously, revealed in the ages of the gos- 
pel ; that, both by men on earth, and the angelic hosts of 
heaven, the church, “ all glorious within,” may be seen ex- 
tending her blessings far and wide, till the abundance of the 


95 


Sea shall be converted unto her, and the forces of the Gentiles 
come to her ; till peace shall come to her like a river, and the 
glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream : and in all the beau- 
ty, which was designed in the original plan id redemption, when 
it was intended that God should be glorious in rebuilding the 
ruins of a fallen world, 9he shall appear “ fair as the moon, 
clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” 

Of the fellowship of the gospel, Christian reader, you are a 
member; a partaker of its spirit, and of its hopes; and are 
you not desirous of being a co-worker in its grand design; a 
partner with your immortal Head in the grand results of his re- 
deeming love ? Initiated into the fellowship of the gospel, you 
are not your own; you are bound by its rules, aud however 
limited your sphere, or abject your condition, it is your en- 
nobling privilege, to be admitted to a partnership of glory. 

In order to the full enjoyment of this privilege, however, 
(than which, there is not a greater offered to mankind,) some- 
thing more is required than occasional impulses and inactive 
convictions. Each in the sphere of life which God and duty 
assign (for they assign nothing inconsistent with the fellowship 
of the gospel) and aware that the rule of Christian benev- 
olence is limited in its application, not by the professions, en- 
gagements, and circumstances of men, must submit himself to 
that entire dominion of Christian benevolence, which he ap- 
proves and expects in the Missionary, who has publicly avowed 
the obligation he is under. Rather, each should be animated 
by that spirit, at once the evidence and the cause of the ap- 
proaching glories of the reign of Christ, which consecrates to 
him the whole of human life. Be this the age, for the opera- 
tion of this pervading principle. Christian, be thou the man, 
living to fulfil thy duties, and to be a blessing to mankind ; — to 
be a pattern of that charity which thou approvest in others ; 
be thou the man to consecrate thy life to infinite and immortal 
purposes, and bj thy liberality, thy prayers, or thy exertions, 
having turned many to righteousness, to shine like the stars of 
the firmament forever. 




